Broken Bonds, Eternal Ties
by Celestial Nanodayo
Summary: Although they had split already, she still thought of him daily. She could never really forget his messy hair or his habits, but he had changed, and she could never hope to reunite with him again. She was still going to try though, to revert him back to his old self, from far away, and yet she had started falling in forbidden love with someone else yet again. [Akashi/Aomine X OC]
1. A New Start

Misaki: Beautiful Blossom

[A/N]: Hiya! This is my first fanfiction and thank you for being curious enough to click on this! Please read and review to help me improve in my writing. Sorry for any grammar errors present.

Rakuzan High. That prestigious high school where all the clever ones were said to have gone. A dark indigo-haired high-schooler plodded through the gleaming gates, still rubbing her eyes and frowning to herself. Kyoto was such a far journey from her home back in Tokyo. Pity her brother Shouichi decided to go to nearby Touou Academy instead… Imayoshi Misaki sighed as she thought of her Teikou friends. Tetsu-some obscure new high school she had never heard of. Ki-kun went to Kaijou, that well-rounded sports school. And Satsuki and… Aomine… To Touou. She winced at the thought of the tanned ganguro. How he had changed…

Misaki stared at the paper she was clutching in her hand. Class 1A for the other scholarship students huh… She lugged a large suitcase carrying practically all her belongings and headed for the Rakuzan dormitories first. Being a student from faraway Tokyo, she had to board there, or be up near dawn just to travel to school. Hopefully, there would be other cool people staying there too. Plonking down her belongings, Misaki looked around at her room and nodded in approval, her piercing indigo eyes softening for an instant. _Pretty high-class for a school dorm, huh._ After unpacking hurriedly, Misaki facepalmed as she looked at the clock on the wall. Shoot, she was going to be late, on the _first_ day of school! Flinging some books into her schoolbag, Misaki ran towards the main school building and almost collapsed again. Where on earth was her classroom?

Panting heavily, she finally reached her class. Misaki stared at the sea of faces before her. Practically all the seats were occupied, since she was just on time… She should have come earlier! There was only one or two seats left, and the first she spotted was beside a redhead who was avidly staring at a shogi board, who seemed to be playing all by himself.

Misaki frowned to herself. He seemed strangely familiar, especially with that focused stance. It was obvious that he was focusing all his attention on the board.

"Erm… Is this seat occupied?" Akashi Seijuurou looked up to a pair of piercing indigo eyes, and a girl with long bangs brushing the front of her face that had a _really_ awkward grin, as she frantically tried to swipe them away. Her eyes looked straight into his heterochromatic ones. Akashi frowned. Why did she look so familiar? And besides, she was one of the first to look directly into his eyes. What an unusual girl. "No. Sit down." As the girl exhaled somewhat obviously, Akashi felt her eyes reading his nametag. _Akashi Seijuurou_. Akashi was mildly amused as her eyes widened in recognition. What a dramatic person. "Aren't you… From the Teikou Middle School Basketball Club?"

He blinked. Was this girl also from Teikou? He scanned her face and her nametag. _Imayoshi Misaki_. Oh… that girl who clinched the Integrated Sciences Prize last year at Teikou. "Yes. And how do you know?" Her gaze faltered a little at hearing the interrogative tone, as she smiled once again a little awkwardly. "Urm… I was in the second string of that club. I knew Momoi Satsuki, Kise Ryouta, Kuroko Tetsuya and… Aomine Daiki." At the last name, she seemed to hesitate a little, her face twitching slightly. There must be some history there. Akashi gestured for her to sit down first. "So I gather you will join the Rakuzan club as well?" Misaki shook her head slightly. "No. Actually, I wish to join the team as a manager, since there is a lack of one. The Rakuzan team would require higher-standard players like you, and I think I would be of better use to the team as a manager, supporting the players." Akashi stared at her a little more, her shoulder-length hair swaying in the breeze beautifully. Now this was a tactical and suitable manager for the team.

"Hello, would you like to join the Literature Club? We read really interesting books!"

"Football is definitely for you, you get to compete a lot!"

"Come to Rakuzan Judo! Learn some cool moves!"

Akashi Seijuurou walked past all the booths, heading for a single one- Basketball. A lively blonde, a moody black-haired girlish-looking boy and a tanned large-framed giant were in front of the booth, sighing as a distinguished-looking man stood behind supervising as many came to sign up. He smirked. _The 3 Uncrowned Kings in one school, huh…_ Suddenly, a hand tapped his shoulder. Akashi turned around, only to face a smiling Misaki, jumping with boundless energy. "Akashi-kun, can I go with you to sign up for the Basketball Club?" Akashi blinked, startled, then nodded. As they walked, Misaki continued to chatter about school work with him. Compared to those idle chatty girls in his class who simply giggled and fangirled about anime characters and likewise trivial things, Akashi found Misaki refreshing, and although she was hyper, reminding him of a certain blonde from his middle school days.

"Nanodayo~ Hey, Big Sis Reo, we got so many application forms already! We're gonna have an epic team this year!" Mibuchi Reo nodded nonchalantly as Hayama Kotaro grinned, holding up all the application forms. "Are you crazy? Put that stack down!" A third-year nearly screamed in exasperation, as some of the papers flew with the light breeze, scattering all over. "Oops~" Hayama grinned again as he bent to pick them up. Then a hand bumped into his.

A pair of heterochromatic eyes stared at him. Hayama averted his gaze slightly, feeling fear and apprehension at the same time. "Hey... Are you Akashi Seijuurou, the recruit we saw last year? Yay~ Please write your name down here and you'll automatically be allocated to 1st string!" Nodding, the redhead solemnly moved forward and starting penning down his information. Hayama sighed in relief. The first-year freaked him out a little, with that strange demeanour of his and that scary gaze. It had been decided unanimously that this kid would be the captain of the team, since he was about the only one who seemed to possess any leadership skill at all along with exceptional talent when they recruited him.

"Hello! Can I sign up to be a manager…?" A chirpy voice broke Hayama's thoughts. Abruptly, he turned around and came face-to-face with yet another pair of piercing eyes. Hayama jumped once again. _Why did all the sign-ups have such scary eyes?!_ Scratching his head and still feeling nervous, he responded. "I guess since we don't have a manager yet, you just gotta prove yourself worthy of kantoku… I'll go with you to ask I guess?" A smile broke out on her face, and the pair walked over to Eiji Shirogane, who was discussing with Mibuchi about certain matters.

"Kantoku~~ Can we have a manager? This girl here, ummmm…" Hayama faltered, realising he didn't know her name. "Imayoshi Misaki. Can I be your manager? After you test me first, naturally." Misaki bowed formally to a grey-haired, serious looking coach. She had to admit, she was nervous. Eiji Shirogane certainly was a person to be respected. She thought of him in the Japan National Basketball Team. Impressive. She could feel his eyes on her face, thinking and examining what potential she had. Now Misaki wanted to be selected as the manager even more.

Beside the kantoku stood three imposing figures. The blonde, mischievous-looking with green eyes and vampire teeth who brought her just now, that girly-looking skinny tall player with an amused glance seemed like one of those typical shooters with eccentric habits, and the last one with strapping big muscles who looked as if he could devour a hundred bowls of rice at one go. That blonde particularly bothered her. He seemed a little too familiar- that stance of his, that relaxed attitude… Those traits made her think of someone that she had forgotten. Without thinking, Misaki popped a question, instinctively. "Are you a Power Forward?"

He looked at Misaki, startled, before hesitating and then nodding earnestly. Misaki sucked in her breath. So _that_ was why this guy had seemed so familiar. There was another person like him who also played Power Forward- the same _chill guys_ attitude, the slight slouch- Misaki bit her lip involuntarily. _Stop thinking about_ him _again. He's in your past. Forget him_ _and move on already._ She still felt spasms of pain whenever she thought about how he had changed, how he deserted his teammates and declared himself to be the best of the best. And Misaki never could understand his pain, his longing to have another rival. She thought of his shadow suddenly. _Tetsu_ … If he had gone to Seirin, surely he must have had a plan to defeat his old friends and partner. Perhaps he had another light to guide Seirin to victory after battling the other Kiseki no Sedai members. But how strong would this light be? Misaki mentally reminded herself to text Tetsu later on to ask about him. She essentially was the only one who understood and felt his pain among all his friends from Teikou. Surely she would be able to help in some way. After all, Misaki also felt the same way as him, but in a slightly different way. Misaki hadn't known all the Kiseki no Sedai members well, but she mainly thought of a certain bluenette who was the first one of all to change for the worse. Satsuki had also gotten herself into a mess worrying about her childhood friend's state, so she had followed him to Touou to ensure he didn't get into any trouble.

Misaki sat in class apprehensively the next day, paying zero attention to whatever her English teacher was teaching. After all, her English was one of the best in class, so she did not have to actually listen to score. But Misaki was thinking of her basketball club trial that afternoon right after school ended. She drummed her pencil on the table, impatiently and a little nervously. She badly did want to be the Rakuzan basketball team's manager, and play her old middle school friends. Since Satsuki was already the manager of the Touou team, she could be her opponent and test out her rusty tactical skills. Misaki grinned at the thought. Perhaps, finally she could prove Aomine Daiki wrong, that basketball ought to be loved, not only played.

Misaki didn't know how the split had happened between the both of them. Since meeting in one of Teikou's gyms on the first day of attending the basketball club practices, they were best friends. They laughed, ate, talked, breathed and played basketball together, usually with Satsuki. In first year, Aomine was a basketball-loving boy, a basketball idiot, but he was Misaki's type of basketball idiot. Sure, his academics might have been super poor, but he was talented and passionate about basketball. His pet quote made her smile. _If you love basketball, you can't be a bad person._ Aomine always loved basketball more than anything else. Before he changed drastically in second year.

She still couldn't fully understand his attitude. Sure, Aomine Daiki was the best at basketball among his rivals and teammates. But that didn't give him an excuse to stop practising, and grumble about the lack of so-called worthy opponents he had. Misaki had reminded him again and again, that one day there definitely would be a person better than him, and one that he would have to put in his utmost effort to beat. So far there were none, though. Misaki still firmly believed that one day, someone would surpass Aomine. Yet he had brushed that off with a scowl. _Misaki, don't be so innocent. The only one who can beat me is me._ She flinched a bit, recalling his superior drawl that day. The day they broke apart.

But maybe Misaki could undersand him just a little, but not enough. She hurt for him, hurt for his lack of a suitable opponent on the court. Misaki could put herself in Aomine's shoes, and she was able to get his genius in basketball, his unbeatable natural talent and experience. Most of all, she managed to understand his feeling of standing on the basketball court, facing opponents that you _knew_ that you would crush and defeat by a large margin. For him, basketball became just a game. Just a silly little thing where you were the strongest among all, and no matter what people did, you still remained the best of the best. So naturally it got boring for him.

Misaki got a little offended and pained, however, when the ganguro had said she couldn't understand him at all. She was trying her best, feeling for him, accompanying him to the bus stop as often as she could and asking him about it, although she knew very well that it would hurt him. Misaki was trying to _help_ him, to get him to return to his old self, to get him to start loving basketball again. Satsuki also put in much effort to understand her childhood friend. A little voice started whispering at the back of her head. _It was no use. He is gone._ Misaki still remembered very clearly the day both of them broke apart. It was raining, and the sun was hidden behind grey clouds. The day Aomine Daiki told her he could no longer receive Tetsu's passes, and when Misaki had shouted at him to stop it, to _stop_ being so self-centred and egoistical. She was partially wrong for being so impatient at him, yes, but… she could hardly bear it. The boy she once liked and laughed with was replaced by a monster.


	2. Basketball

[A/N]: Thank you **guest** for reviewing my story! I've actually re-read the first chapter, and realised that perhaps Akashi is a little too soft in my story, so Akashi is being described here as a little more absolute (as he is frequently portrayed), more of the yandere he is and not so warm, as he had only met Misaki. Perhaps after knowing her for longer, he would be slightly kinder.

Also, thank you **LightFun27, Shiranai Atsune, Tsuna De Vongola Decimo, Hope10032, Helena Light, darkxxion,** and **NamikazaMia** for adding this story or me to your story subscription! (sorry if I wrote your username wrongly!) Please read and review!

X

Thankfully, the horribly boring English lesson had ended. After sending the teacher off as a class, Misaki dragged her thoughts away from Aomine, and started packing up her backpack excitedly. Her deskmate was much less excited, just calmly packing up. "Akashi-kun…" Misaki hesitated. "May you please speed up?" The redhead stared back at Misaki with an intimidating eye. "Wait. Stop being over-enthusiastic, Misaki." Misaki blinked repeatedly, not processing what the redhead had said, then she sat down, quietly waiting for him. Akashi… Scary as ever. And even with that intimidating glance of his, Misaki felt he still looked a little normal, just him being his usual self. Misaki cringed. _Normal?_ All her friends spoke about his odd character, but she found him fine. He seemed nice enough, and she accepted that his personality was a little different. On second thought, Akashi looked scarier than ever. Misaki tugged at his arm gently, trying one more time. "Akashi-kun…?" as she tried to make her way to the toward the toilet to change into appropriate attire for attending the basketball trials. A golden orb stared back at her, and a pair of burning indigo eyes stared right back. Misaki, ever perseverant and obstinate. And as Akashi replied, "I am absolute. Do not try to make me do something I do not want to do.", Misaki sighed and rushed off to the toilet herself, Akashi slowly packing up behind her, and he looked after her.

Imayoshi Misaki had an air of quiet dignity, despite her loudness and her love of speech. She wasn't particularly sloppy or anything. For some reason, Akashi liked that carefree yet dignified air. She would definitely not sacrifice her pride for anything, just like him. Misaki was completely different in a mysterious way. Somehow she had a slightly cynical side, whenever she hung around derederes, as she had _way_ too many annoying loud friends. She could be counted on to switch sides whenever she needed to, and would become an almost different person when discussing something serious with Akashi.

And that eye of his blended into red for a millisecond before becoming golden again.

 _Don't even think about it, Seijuurou._

Akashi gritted his teeth as a few hot tears entered his eyes. Misaki always made his personalities go awry for some reason. After all, she herself seemed to have two different aspects of herself, and was the one and only one who could make him soften a little and perhaps, return to his old self for a short period of time, no matter how short it was, she still made him a kinder person. But he needed to control himself, no matter how hard it was going to be.

X

The basketball trials were going to start. Imayoshi Misaki sat at a wooden bench near the court, donning her basketball shoes and observing the regulars play. The Rakuzan basketball team was indeed amazingly strong. Misaki watched with her mouth dangling open as they made incredible shots, passing flawlessly and playing amazingly. The team was truly in a class of its own. She was filled with even more determination to prove herself worthy of being the manager of this team. Since the trials to get into the team itself were taking place first, Misaki could observe Akashi and several others lining up to do some warm-ups and test their abilities. Misaki grinned as she spotted Akashi moving through the warm-up without sweating and seemed to have limitless energy, while some of the others like poor Kageyama had started to pant while working their way through the tiring warm-ups. Akashi was just there for show, of course. He would naturally be accepted as a regular, and play in games immediately. After all, he was accepted into Rakuzan because of his basketball. Sometimes, she really envied that kind of strong and talented players. Without any effort, they could do well in games. They were so much unlike her, who needed to train crazily for any game she played, and in the end only produced half the results that they achieved. So did Tetsu, but he was naturally talented already. Still, that was the main reason why they actually sympathised with each other when no one else could.

Misaki spotted the girly-looking black-haired boy she had seen at the basketball booth coming towards her with a lazy smile on his face. "I recognise you, you're Misa-chan right?" Misaki blinked repeatedly with surprise. _Misa-chan?_ She was used to people calling her Imayoshi-san formally the first few times they met her, not Misa-chan or even her first name. Maybe this boy was just an oddball. Misaki nodded, and the boy introduced himself. "I'm Mibuchi Reo, first string shooter of the team. Come, I'll lead you to Kantoku and he can test you out. Good luck~" That lazy expression on his face changed to something else. Not quite a smile, but somewhat similar. _He's like a sloppier version of Akashi, and just as eccentric._ Both of them walked over to where the coach was sitting. Eiji Shirogane was there, serenely observing the other players who were being trialed. "Kantoku, here is Imayoshi Misaki. The manager…?" He turned his head and Misaki bowed politely once more. Mibuchi then left for his own team. Misaki inwardly cringed. _Oh no… Now I'm all alone with the Kantoku…!_ Nodding, Eiji lead Misaki to right in front of the regulars who were practising hard. Misaki frowned. _Why the regulars?_ What did he want her to do? Misaki was downright puzzled, until Eiji explained everything to her.

X

"You see, we need a capable manager who had is both observational and strategic in order to help Rakuzan win games. It's not enough if you just have experience. So, I shall test your capabilities by letting you observe the players. Over here, there are 5 players playing 5 different positions. You have to deduce each player's position, simply by looking at their style, physique and capabilities." Eiji stated, as Misaki shivered a little. This was going to be tough. How on earth was she going to figure out their positions without any additional information? As if reading her thoughts, Eiji stood up. "You have ten minutes to figure the positions out." And he left her there, staring at the players on the court cluelessly.

Misaki breathed in deeply. _Okay, don't panic. Figure it out, like he said._ She whipped out a notebook from her pocket and clicked her pen, looking intently at the regulars warming up. She just needed to be able to understand each position's requirements and strengths, then observe carefully and deduce from there. Misaki started by penning down each position's unique capabilities. Centre. Strong, tall, has huge leg muscles and great power. Usually like a giant. Small Forward. Agile, fast, but usually runs out of steam quickly. Misaki smiled as she thought of a hyperactive blonde player in Teikou Middle School. Ki-kun was essentially the reason and basis for her stereotype of Small Forwards. Power Forward. Slightly slower than SF, but typically taller, can possibly double up as a a centre and has more stamina. More skilled than SF. Misaki winced as she thought of Aomine yet again, herself trying to rid him from her mind.

Point Guard. Less noticed compared to the others, but has a quick reaction and is the strategist of the team. Clever and made less mistakes most of the time. Shooting Guard. Misaki wanted to laugh whenever she thought of a superstitious green-haired shooter back in middle school whose name she had forgotten. Miro… Mitsu… What was it again? She usually hung out with the first stringers in first and second year at the convenience store near Teikou, but only was close and familiar with Satsuki their manager, Aomine, Tetsu and Kise. She just remembered a lanky purple-haired giant and that green-haired boy being on the team as well. Though they were all in the same club, the only time she played with Kise was when she had been in-charge of Kise once before when he was still in the second string. Misaki's eyes went back to the basketball court and decided to focus again. Shooters were mostly… Arrogant and kind of tall and intimidating. Not very agile, but stiff and composed. There, she had finished all of them already. Shutting her notebook, Misaki stared stiffly at the players and glanced at her watch. Four minutes left. Yikes.

After scanning the area, Misaki realised that those three players she had seen at the booth were no present. She sighed. If they were there, she would have completed this task more easily, already knowing the blonde's position. On the court, the first player she noticed was a particularly pale and lanky boy. He was completing his warm-ups efficiently and with an air of superiority at the same time. Misaki narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, wanting to examine his muscles. His leg muscles were quite defined but not bulky, and his arms as well. She grinned to herself as she recognised that expressionless face of his. _Shooting Guard._ Perhaps she shouldn't generalise and group all lanky and lazy-looking players into one group, but she couldn't help it. It was just the way Misaki thought about them.

X

Eiji Shirogane glanced at his watch. It was about time. He strolled to the bench where Imayoshi Misaki was sitting, expecting to find her in a state of half-panic, half-confusion. But in fact the indigo-haired girl was sitting up straight with bright eyes and was trying to control a grin that was appearing on her face. "Imayoshi-san, are you done? Please tell me the positions of the players, in any order you'd like. Point them out to me as well." As she scrambled to her feet in an effort to be polite, Misaki also opened a bent little brown notebook. Eiji raised his eyebrows in surprise. It had been a long time since he had ever seen a manager bring a notebook to take down notes, and this girl wasn't even the manager yet. He was even more amazed when Misaki started reading off the positions from the pages and pointing towards the players on the court. All her deductions were, amazingly, accurate. As he looked a little closer, Eiji spotted many messily-written notes about each position. _Shooting Guard. Think of that arrogant green-eyed guy in Teikou._ _Tall, intimidating, arrogant?_

The girl was still on her feet, and the expression on her face reminded Eiji of a little puppy, desperately wanting to be accepted. Eiji smiled. "Right. You got the job." Anyway, the first time he saw her, he already realised that she had a lot of potential. Those deep indigo eyes… Imayoshi Misaki also had attended Teikou Middle School, the school where the Kiseki no Sedai had been to. Misaki also had plenty of experience in playing basketball, and demonstrated a kind of selflessness as she had accepted that there were many others better than her in playing basketball, and she knew what she wanted to do in that field. Those three years of playing would certainly help her in being Manager, after all. She would be able to feel the players' emotions while they were on the court, strategizing more effectively and essentially improving the team's play much more than Shouta Higuchi ever could. Sure, he had experience, but he was weaker than others. This girl, however, had been in The Teikou's team. She used to be in second string, but surely she would be talented as well. For once, Eiji was grateful that Shouta had resigned. It gave the opportunity for Imayoshi Misaki to take his place. She was also the sister of Touou's captain, Imayoshi Shouichi. Misaki would definitely know him well, and that way he could face Harasawa, that old teammate of his, without feeling that his school was not prepared well enough.

X

Misaki's face blossomed into a smile. Yes, yes, yes! She had gotten the position. As Kantoku explained the so-called very important job she had as manager, Misaki's head drifted off into the clouds. She couldn't wait to tell Satsuki and Shouichi… As Eiji Shirogane finished off, she sprinted towards Akashi, wanting to tell him the news. Thankfully, the boys who were being tested were relaxing on the benches and gulping down enormous sips of water already. Misaki ran off to Akashi, and greeted him as calmly as she knew he did not like loud, annoying personalities. "Akashi-kun, I got the job as Manager finally. Do you know what position you'll be playing for Rakuzan?" She inwardly squealed with happiness, thinking about her accomplishment once again as Akashi turned towards her and nodded his head in acknowledgement. Others nearby within earshot glanced at him silently with strange looks, as if thinking he was odd not to congratulate his friend. But Misaki didn't care. She liked the way Akashi was, the calm cool way he acknowledged everything around him. He was simply less emotional than others, after all. Perhaps he was a kind of tsundere or something, because he was exceptionally nicer to her than everyone else. But something told her that he was different from others. Akashi was more sensitive, felt others' emotions more, and wasn't in the least bit creepy, despite what others often said.

Somehow, she found herself enjoying his company more than anyone else's.

After packing up, the both of them walked back to their dormitories silently, as Akashi came from Tokyo as well. Misaki enjoyed the silence around her, the space that he gave her. Despite her bubbly nature, Misaki always preferred silent support and company compared to people chattering away at full speed. Unlike many others she felt that the silence between her and her friends wasn't awkward at all, but rather soothing. It gave her the chance to think about things, to think about ideas. Apparently Akashi also felt the same, as the both of them paced themselves according to each other and were in harmony although they weren't saying anything. Misaki's thoughts drifted to Satsuki. She got her phone out, texting away at full speed. Luckily, Satsuki seemed to be on her phone at that moment and replied instantly. Misaki couldn't help but sigh at her responses. They reminded her of the past, as always. Satsuki always had to bring up Aomine in her conversations and texts with her. Couldn't she understand how she felt about him? Whenever she saw Satsuki, it always made her think of that ganguro who had broken her heart into tiny fragmented bits, and was the one who had caused it to be scarred even after being forcefully glued back together. But after all, Satsuki was the one who helped her out of that black abyss after her best friend changed.

To: Momoi Satsuki

From: You

YAY I actually got the position as manager in the team today im gonna beat u in any comps from now on hehehehe tell my bro too I haven't told him yet

To: You

From: Momoi Satsuki

ohmy mi-chan good for u congrats! u'll c Imayoshi-kun on the court then too interesting… btw can u help me omg daiki isn't budging and refusing to attend pracs now how did u convince him in the past you know I tried finding his horikita mai-chan fotobk but I CANT FIND IT ohnoes D: fail

To: Momoi Satsuki

From: You

satsuki, urm I don't really understand him anymore solly but can u ask ppl to help u find all his mags then blackmail him to attend maybe u can ask my bro to help I guess?

To: You

From: Momoi Satsuki

you should really get back tgt with dai-chan! u guys are so sweet come on… i'll try to counsel him to start liking bball again kayzz can't wait to c u during the weekend text me when u find an appropriate date 3

Aomine Daiki. The cause of all her lingering problems. Misaki rubbed the top of her head, sighing. Why did Satsuki always try to matchmake the both of them? True, they were the closest pair ever in middle school, but that was all in the past. She still blushed as she thought of the way he always carefully and gently draped his thick jacket over her head when she felt cold in winter, even if that meant he would be cold himself. Whenever the weather got cold or the classroom's air-conditioning grew too frosty, or whenever she saw someone donning a Rakuzan jacket, or whenever she saw a sweet loving couple wrapped in thick coats together, or whenever she saw someone draping a coat over their friend or lover – all these made her think of him. No matter how much she tried, that sweet face of his kept circling in her mind. He really messed up her emotions like crazy. Aomine Daiki made her feel mixed emotions, but mostly bitter despite having more sweet memories than unhappy ones. Misaki clenched her teeth. _Forget about him already!_ She hated the way he made her feel so vulnerable but safe at the same time whenever she saw him, that casual attitude of his which she once loved making her heart thump faster and faster, ripping off the bandages off her old wounds. He just made her heart bleed, and her eyes shed tears, and her face devoid of a single smile for an entire week.

And she had to face him yet again possibly on the basketball court if Rakuzan ever played against Touou Gakuen, which was extremely likely. Misaki vowed to crush him someday with her team, to teach him the taste of defeat, to let him know what it was like to have an opponent stronger than him.

X

After walking back to his dormitory, Akashi Seijuurou was thinking about Misaki on the basketball team as his manager. Misaki was reliable and could be trusted, but if she was against her former friends, how would she perform? Akashi answered his own question almost immediately. He sensed that Misaki was a professional person who learnt to keep work and life separate. Misaki had plenty of experience behind her, after all. She hadn't been the captain of the Teikou second string for nothing. Besides Shouta Higuchi, Misaki was very likely the best fit for the position of manager, since she had both talent, potential and experience in playing. Besides, Misaki also knew some of the other Kiseki no Sedai members pretty well, and she could even understand Daiki. Knowing your opponents' weaknesses and strengths was a valuable tool. Akashi smirked as she thought of Hayama and Eikichi. They were forever complaining and whining. _The typical annoying players like Ryouta._ It would be inetresting to see how they fared under Misaki.

Misaki was also different in a personal way. Although Misaki was usually the type he disliked because of her openness and the fact that she loved to chatter away at top speed, Akashi found himself liking every bit of her. She was different, all right. Misaki talked in an interesting way; again he found himself thinking about her talk's content. Unlike many other teenagers, Misaki didn't listen to the latest Japanese pop or start fangirling about any animes. She did watch anime like any normal teen though, but wasn't explicit about it. Sometimes Akashi found her listening to some anime songs in the classroom, but she never obsessed about it unlike many of her friends. And he found himself thinking about her aura again. She seemed to give off a quietly supportive aura, and when Akashi observed her during group presentations in class, she would always be standing by the side, giving her full attention to her group mate who was speaking, and silently be there for him or her. She was downright _confusing_ , and made his mind swirl. This was someone who could be both loud enough and silent at the same time. Oddly, but wonderfully someone who fitted his personality.

Again, Akashi deduced and confirmed that Misaki seemed to have two different personalities altogether. One was a bubbly cheerful one that appeared to most people, the one who was carefree and had a never-ending supply of energy. There was another, however, that appeared to Akashi more often than not. Misaki apparently gave off different vibes when it came to different people, and perhaps when encountering people like him who thought more than speaking, the second Misaki came out. She was much quieter, sympathetic and understanding, and in a way dignified, a little too poised to be a regular high schooler. She was more like Akashi in that aspect, and that second girl was the same girl who managed to enter Rakuzan High, and the girl who helped Teikou Middle School clench first, second or third position for second string matches yearly. She was the one who was Daiki and Tetsuya's close friend. And Akashi definitely preferred that Misaki to the regular one.

She was the only one besides Father that glanced directly into his multi-coloured orbs without hesitation, and without any fear or grudging respect. No. She had just looked back at him, sometimes her indigo eyes lighting up with a cheery smile, with a slight bit of friendly respect and interest, nothing else. Or her eyes would seem to tell him she accepted and understood him, and she wasn't at all afraid. Yes, Imayoshi Misaki was definitely different from others. That disturbed Akashi. He had to be _absolute_. No questions asked about him, no disobedience or any form of a challenge- wasn't that what people usually did in front of him? Akashi was _supposed_ to be like that, for the Akashi family's pride and honour. Misaki, however, didn't do any of that. Her personality softened a little, definitely, but… She still had that carefree aura occasionally. Perhaps it was due to the influence of her family. Her brother, Imayoshi Shouichi, was slightly interesting as well. In _Basketball Monthly_ , Imayoshi was always pictured as a squinting, wryly smiling teenager with a menacing smirk permanently plastered on his face. From the way Misaki talked about him, it appeared to Akashi that Imayoshi was never very sincere about things except to her. Akashi was mildly curious about how he would deal with that arrogant Daiki, even with Satsuki's help. The Imayoshi family seemed to have a special talent for dealing with difficult and particularly annoying people.

Imayoshi Shouichi. A third-year senior prefect with black hair and a genuine smile popped into Akashi's memory. That amiable, smiling prefect he had seen in Teikou Middle School turned into a cynical, humourless teen. Akashi wondered what had happened to him along the way. Imayoshi used to be a nice person, and as Misaki put it, he was "overprotective of anyone he cared about". Did Imayoshi Shouichi even really care about anyone besides his sister nowadays? Akashi's interest was piqued even further when he received a text from Misaki.

To: Imayoshi Misaki

From: You

Akashi-kun, we're going back to Tokyo this weekend aren't we? Can we go together? I'm going home with my brother once we reach.

What kind of person was Imayoshi Shouichi, in reality?

No matter how Akashi thought about it, he couldn't decide.

X

[A/N]: Yes, this is a sort-of cliffhanger. Sorry if my writing style differs a lot, since my emotions changed while writing this... I've decided to make the presence of Imayoshi Shouichi more prominent in Misaki's life, because in this story so far I've been focusing a lot on Misaki and Aomine, mostly on their past together. Her brother plays an important part too, as he is in Touou along with Aomine, and has to deal with his behaviour. Look out for stronger presence of Kiseki no Sedai as well!


	3. All Those Changes

[A/N]: Thank you for the reviews! **the red empress,** thank you for the feedback! I'll try to make paragraph spacing a little bigger to relief readers' eyes, because sometimes reading too many words at one go is just frustrating. **Liza,** yes, I'll take note of that! Akashi can be commanding, among other things, besides just being yandere. Akashi is a super complex character so he had many different sides. **Lili,** to answer your question, Aomine and Misaki were dancing around each other cutely, not actually engaging in romantic relationship but being best friends, but in fact their relationship was much more than that (their inner feelings). E.g. Satsuki always ships the both of them together. I didn't actually notice that gap there so thanks for pointing it out!

I'm delving more into Misaki's past and personal family life and Aomine will have a much stronger presence. Please read and review!

X

 _FLASHBACK TO TEIKOU SECOND YEAR JULY_

"Excuse me, where is the Accident and Emergency?" A small indigo-haired girl raised her hand over the tall marbled counter at the Midorima Municipal Hospital. A bored-looking woman at the counter yawned and raised an eyebrow at the middle schooler rather sceptically. "If you really want to know, it's on the third floor. On the right corridor, far inside." Expressing her thanks, Imayoshi Misaki hurriedly rushed to the Accident and Emergency Room at top speed, ignoring the odd looks passers-by gave her.

For some reason, Misaki was tearless and hardly felt any form of pain. The usually emotional indigo-haired girl this time didn't feel much after hearing the news, announced to her in school. Although the personnel there had escorted here to the hospital, guided by Midorima her classmate himself, Misaki was left to find her parents alone. At feeling little emotion, Misaki rebuked herself.

 _They're the ones who took care of you! They loved you, so at least feel a little sadness!_

Misaki gritted her teeth. She still couldn't feel any form of emotion, and felt downright guilty about it, although she was a little anxious about their situation. Rushing over to the A&E, she spotted a familiar tuft of black hair. A high-schooler was sitting on a bench in front of the Operating Theatre, staring blankly at the floor and clasping his hands together so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"Shou-nee! They got hit in a car accident, right? Are they… okay?"

Imayoshi Shouichi was a picture of anxiety, and only raised his head up about three seconds later. "Huh… Yes…" He stood up and abruptly put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "They're currently being operated on, and they are in great risk. I have faith in the doctors. Don't worry, Misa. They'll be fine."

Misaki's face turned red in guilt as her brother placed his palms on the head, trying to comfort her. But she didn't even feel alarmed or scared in the first place. Shouichi was the best brother she ever had, although Mother and Father were a little unreasonable many times, and he liked to stick up for her. He didn't even feel any annoyance or anger towards them, despite them punishing the both of them in various ways. Shouichi could be protective, and this was one of those times. Misaki bit her lip.

 _Was it really that wrong to not feel bad for Mother and Father?_

Shouichi had been punished more than her by them, and yet here he was, feeling the need to help Misaki. Shouichi thought she was actually going to be mournful, or at least feel a little emotion. That meant he felt it too. She could tell, by the pressure of his fingers, and the rigid expression on his face. Shouichi never was rigid unless in front of Mother and Father, or he was feeling particularly anxious or heartbroken. So he must be feeling it all right.

Time flew by. Misaki and Shouichi just stood there, standing together silently, not saying anything for a period of time.

The both of them understood each other perfectly, without any form of communication.

Misaki was glad to have Shouichi as a brother. She heard some of her classmates complaining about their older brothers being super-messy, irritating and loud, and they all kind of envied Misaki of Shouichi. True, Shouichi had bad habits too. But Misaki always nagged at him - and he called her an auntie – and Shouichi would brush it off, and try to get rid of them. Misaki supposed this was because of the way Mother and Father treated them.

She shuddered at the thought. She still recalled the day Mother caned her, simply because she had not known some kanji vocab. It was just vocab, right? She was just overreacting as usual, but even worse, she called Misaki "useless", and labelled her as someone who "was never going to succeed". It was downright childish and Misaki knew it, but she cried tears of anger after the caning and the callous remarks. And Shouichi had always been there for her right after every caning, every dressing-down, every abuse from their parents. That was what made them understand each other so well.

A tall masked doctor walked out of the A&E Room a little too calmly to be true, and whipped his head around to look for them. "Doctor, how are they? We are their children, Imayoshi Shouichi and Imayoshi Misaki." Misaki looked up into her brother's face, and found his face tight with worry once again, and squeezed his hand to let him know she was there for support. "Ah, Imayoshi… I am afraid that your parents did not survive the accident. Unfortunately, the police are still investigating. I am very sorry."

Misaki's heart skipped a beat. _Mother and Father… Dead? For real?_ She clenched her teeth as she, once again, felt no emotion. _Am I just a heartless beast? Shouichi's so sad, while you're practically fine!_ Misaki circled her arm around her brother's, as his eyes grew suspiciously shiny. "We will be making the necessary arrangements. The police will come to see you shortly."

X

As the doctor left, Shouichi broke into a thunderous cry, one that others might mistake for a sign of weakness. He collapsed onto the bench behind him and clenched his fists, while tears streamed down steadily on his cheeks. His younger sister took hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly, but she showed no sign of emotion. Shouichi looked up at her.

Misaki's face was a picture of worry, but that was for him and not deceased Mother and Father. She was merely concerned about him, and didn't care tuppence for their parents. And somehow that didn't anger him in the slightest. After all the abuse and torture that Misaki had endured, Shouichi could understand her lack of sorrow at their demise. They were the ones who gave her an unhappy childhood after all. There was no need to mourn their loss. But, _who would take care of them? Where would they go?_

Misaki was only young and carefree. She didn't need to worry about education, shelter or anything. People would help her to take care of all her problems. But he was different. He was the eldest, and only son of the family. He needed to take responsibility. He was sixteen years old after all, a first year in high school, soon to enter university in three years. He had to appropriately feel sorrowful for their deceased parents.

Nosy outsiders would be asking about how he felt, how he would deal with the abrupt loss. The Imayoshi family was supposed to be a happy united family with no internal problems, although it was the complete opposite when it came to his parents. Father was alright at first, but due to the influence of Mother… Shouichi cringed inwardly. Lets just say that the dressing-downs he gave at first turned into all-out berating and physical hurt.

Shouichi straightened his back and stood up straight suddenly. Call it cliché, call it stupid, but he had to restore his broken family. No matter what the cost was, no matter how hard he had to hide his feelings. Misaki peered at her older brother with some concern, and that vanished when he painfully let a smile appear on his face.

He hoped it didn't look too fake. His sister could read his emotions way too well. "It is alright, Misaki. We need to come to terms with their loss. Lets meet the police." And while holding her hand, Shouichi felt a slight tremble. He stood up even straighter, his eyes looking to the corridor. "It's _fine_ , Misaki. Don't worry about me". He strolled off comfortably, shaking off his sister's delicate hand, pretending not to hear the soft whispers that sounded in his mind.

 _It's for the better, after all._

X

After sorting out all the arrangements after their parents' untimely deaths, Imayoshi Shouichi became a complete stranger to Misaki. He was more formal towards her, no longer joking around like he did in the past. He stopped ruffling her hair. True, she disliked it whenever he did that, but now that he had stopped, Misaki actually found herself missing those rough hands and fingers, with their familiar pressure on her head. Shouichi had grown distant, no longer loving, and he had started calling her "Misaki" instead of his usual "Misa-nee".

That was a small change, but to Misaki it was a great deal. _What had happened to him?_ Sometimes, Misaki felt like screaming out loud, shaking his shoulders, and asking that stiff stranger at home where the real Imayoshi Shouichi was. She couldn't even bear to call him "Shou-nee" anymore. It sounded too nice, too pleasant and too casual to do that. Anyway, Shouichi called her childish whenever she did. Misaki didn't want him to think of her as a little kid that was far too simple, and someone that was like a toy.

Was it because of their parents' demise? But in the first place, he didn't even feel an emotional attachment to them. So why…?

Shouichi was never one of those humourless dark-natured teens who would moodily put on their headphones and listen to music with a slouching figure. But as time passed after their parents' deaths, Shouichi grew almost cold and whenever he talked to Misaki, his voice always held a mocking tone, no longer sincere and warm, the way he used to be. Sometimes when he came home, he would be clutching a basketball, and would lazily bounce it around the house.

No matter what Misaki said or threatened to do, she couldn't do _anything_ to make him explain himself, whether it was a polite "Shouichi, why are you suddenly so interested in basketball?" or a slightly impatient "Shouichi, can you stop bouncing that basketball? It's too loud!". Her brother would just laugh in a slightly crazed way he had never done before and squint at her – a habit he was developing lately – before remarking coolly that it was none of her business.

Sometimes, Misaki felt like giving up on her brother, just leaving him the way he was. But she reminded herself of his once warm comforting touch two months ago, and she never stopped trying to make Imayoshi Shouichi go back to his old, kinder self. It was almost ironic, how the the boy who used to love his sister so much was the one who caused his sister to cry in her bed every night, thinking of the boy he used to be.

And approximately three months after her parents' deaths in May, Misaki had to deal with yet another change. An even more heartbreaking one, that was to linger for years afterwards. One that she would never forget or forgive, and one that slashed her heart into pieces. Her heart had to be stitched back together, and like a broken ceramic pot that was scotch-taped back by inexperienced children, it never was the same again.

That plunged her deeper into that dark deep never-ending abyss.

TIME SKIP

Lately she started noticing small and subtle changes in her best friend. Lately whenever she wanted to practise more after training with him, Aomine Daiki liked to refuse and make some stupid, lame excuse and go home. They were so obvious it was almost pathetic, and she often questioned him about it, gently prodding him. But he never answered outright, but sometimes Daiki would mumble something along the lines of "it's getting boring", which made her laugh outright at times.

He of all people calling basketball boring? Impossible. Still she noticed little changes in behaviour of his teammates as well. They hung out less and less often at the convenience store near Teikou. In the past, Misaki knew the rest of Daiki's teammates by face- there was a certain purple-haired giant she had never talked too before despite seeing him at the store numerous times gorging himself on various foods and drinks, and an arrogant-looking tall green-haired shooter. He was always carrying odd items with him, and as Satsuki whispered to her, he was superstitious and followed to Oha-Asa Horoscope daily. Except one mysterious redhead, the supposedly "psycho and scary" captain of the team. Akashi, he was named. She had seen him a few times when Coach assembled them together for meetings with the captains, but almost never interacted with him unless it was for clarification and miscellaneous details.

Now Misaki barely smiled or waved hello to them, and when she passed by them in the hallway, they would exchange eye contact and nothing else before striding away like nothing had happened. Whenever Satsuki told her about the first stringers' ridiculous personalities and odd traits, Misaki couldn't help smiling despite the complaints the pink-haired manager made to her regularly about their strange habits during practice and how they were a hindrance to the team's performance. They were like a family. Akashi and green-haired guy being the strict parents, Daiki and Ki-kun being the whiny irritating children. Tetsu being the calm middle child whose attention his brothers fought for furiously. The purple-haired giant being the eldest son, but could never grow up properly. Satsuki acting as their overprotective aunt.

It all fitted very nicely, them being one happy family. But now their happy united family was changing, slowly but surely. They were no longer as simple and naïve as they had been.

Maybe the changes were good. It taught them that basketball wasn't that easy, even if you were the best in your league, the cream of the crop. They had thought that only losers and the weak stood on their own, lonely, without any form of help, too helpless to do anything.

But maybe, just maybe, the strong were like that too.

After all, who would stand beside the Generation of Miracles? Who was their equivalent?

The answer was: No one.

Who knew, that something big was going to happen that would speed this up even more.

TIME SKIP

"Why do we keep seeing you at the convenience store, seriously?" Midorima Shintarou pushed up his glasses and glinted at Kise, who was busy trying to hug him for the third time that day. "Nanodayo, Midorimacchi, I'm sure you secretly love us, especially me! We do have a special bond with you after all~"

Misaki, Satsuki and Daiki rolled their eyes at this. Kise was never gonna give up on someone warming towards him, even if it was the ultimate tsundere of all time, whom according to an irritated Aomine, "was an emotionless asshole". Midorima merely shrugged the model off and continued reading the thick book he was holding in his hand. "We're not that happy to see you either, Glasses Boy. Come on. I don't even know why we hang around here so much in the first place together. I can just come here anytime to buy stuff. They don't even have Horikita Mai-chan… Misaki, why do you keep bringing us here? Satsuki, you too."

Misaki gnashed her teeth, and looked at her other best friend meaningfully, the other raising her eyebrows in subtle annoyance. Actually, they wished to make the Generation of Miracles, Tetsu and Satsuki united and happy again, through _inconspicuously_ making trips to the convenience store near Teikou way more often than usual. In the past, Daiki would love these trips – since he could chill and procrastinate doing his homework while eating stuff at the same time– but now he didn't anymore, which was a little unsettling. Now he preferred to just stay at home and read his gravure idol magazines, which disgusted his female friends completely. Gravure idols were a part of the Teikou ace, yes, but besides that and basketball, Daiki didn't do anything else nowadays.

And even when playing the basketball he used to love, his expression was of 100% boredom. That made the girls' suspicions that the team was falling apart even more confirmed, and they wanted to try to unite them even more. Especially Misaki. She just couldn't stand her friends changing, in fact a certain blue-haired ganguro. He just was becoming darker and darker, and she didn't know how to save him.

For some reason, that situation reminded her of a certain first year at Touou Gakuen whom she used to know as her brother.

X

"Daiki? What do you mean by that? Kantoku allowed you to skip practice?" An indigo-haired girl sat herself by Aomine Daiki on the ground near a street basketball court. She peered at his tanned face curiously in amazement, not entirely understanding what her friend meant. "I mean what I mean, Misaki. That old man has allowed me to skip prac, cos I'm too good already. Basketball's become so boring. No one can beat me. Even that Kamizaki dude's gotten weak. I still don't get how I thought he was a worthy opponent last year, huh." Misaki simply stared at him, her mouth hanging wide open.

 _Boring?_ Was that really Daiki she was talking to? That basketball idiot who always stayed back and practised with her and Tetsu, her best friend who forgot to eat his lunch regularly because he was so busy with practising? Here he was declaring that he found the sport _boring_. Fine, Aomine Daiki was Teikou's ace an amazingly good player. That still wasn't a good enough reason to blatantly look down on your opponents and declare that basketball was uninteresting. Unlike her who had to practise like crazy for any tournament.

"But Daiki, there must be someone out there who is better than you, right? Maybe in another city or something… America must have amazing basketballers!" To this Daiki grunted and stared at Misaki like she was crazy. "Teikou won the Nationals. We are the strongest middle school team in Japan. And since I'm their ace, I'm naturally the strongest, right? America's too far away, you know." The indigo-haired girl gritted her teeth, looking at that nonchalant, slack boy whom she used to love so much as a friend and maybe more. _Daiki…_ She couldn't stand that arrogant attitude anymore, and flipped out.

"AOMINE DAIKI! You're just being a complacent useless basketball player who looks down on every player on the court he meets! At this rate you're gonna lose someday, and when you do, you're going to regret this attitude of yours. You know what, you remind me of Haizaki! You've… changed…" Misaki stormed on, letting out all her emotion, which had been locked up in her heart for some time, before breaking down, covering her face with her hands. Her best friend's change had been the key to unlocking that chest of pain, and he had to face the consequences.

He just stood there dumbly, watching his friend get all worked up, and he realised that his best friend, the girl who sympathised and understood him when no one else could, was _comparing_ him to that _Haizaki Shougo_. "You… You don't understand me at all. Tetsu and Satsuki said about the same thing as you, but I thought you would understand me, at least a little. And now you're comparing me to that jerk. I… Just leave, can you? I don't even know how to receive Tetsu's passes anymore. I don't need anyone."

The ganguro got up and left, with the rain still coming down steadily, and a brokenhearted girl was left to stand in the rain, her jacket slowly getting soaked through.

 _No, no, no… What happened to him?_

 _Why is he like this?_

 _WHY?_

 _What happened to him?_

 _He's not even practising with me and Tetsu anymore…_

 _I should have known…_

 _I should have known…_

Teardrop by teardrop slid down her face, and the rain slowly pelted the top of her head, herself not bothering anymore. She slowly slid down onto the ground, crying, crying so hard. Whenever she saw a dark-skinned or someone with a basketball pass by, the tears started to flow twice as hard, coming in a steady stream, on the face of a girl that sat on the ground near a basketball court for two hours.

Her phone rang unceremoniously, and she picked it up, trembling, hurt, and answered the call.

"Misaki, where are you? I thought you said you'd be home by 7 for dinner. It's frigging 8.30 already. Are you still practising basketball? Don't get so distracted that you would forget about dinner. Hurry up." And the phone line clicked dead before she even answered. But she also didn't trust herself to answer, or he would ask questions. She slowly got up, carrying her bag with her, making her way home in the darkness, all by herself, that small silhouette along the wide, big stone pavement.

X

Misaki entered her house, her eyes still suspiciously red, and her clothes all soaked. She wiped off her remaining tears and entered the Imayoshi household, clenching her teeth as a languid Imayoshi Shouichi lay on the couch reading the latest issue of Basketball Monthly. He was only a first year at Touou Gakuen and just recently joined the basketball club there, but already was hugely obsessed with it.

he tried to encourage him to play more with his teammates and give him little pointers whether he liked it or not, but Shouichi always ignored her and retorted that "high school basketball was much harder" and apparently was way too complex for a "second year middle-schooler to understand". Misaki didn't mind Shouichi looking down on her abilities – since she was a whole two years younger than him after all – but she did detest that lax attitude of his. It reminded her too much of the Teikou ace and his change in attitude.

Misaki still firmly believed that basketball shouldn't just be played or treated as a minor game with so-called "weak" opponents to play with and crush, but it was more about being together with the people you learned to love, and going through everything as a team. Sadly, the other people in the basketball circuit apparently thought the opposite.

Suddenly a hand tapped a shoulder. It was Shouichi, looking at Misaki strangely, unlike his usual cynical expression. His eyes no longer seemed to be piercing through her every thought, but were actually softer. Misaki's heart skipped a beat. _Shou-nee… Are you… Back?_ "What happened? You cried." Those simple words, those two sentences, were ice that broke the ice box her heart had been in, hiding, not showing anything.

And in that one night, she poured out everything. Everything that she had concealed from him since Daiki's behaviour started changing, every single little worry about her friends in the first string, and everything that Tetsu shared with her about Daiki's recent attitude during practice… Misaki couldn't bear it anymore. After saying out _everything_ , she glanced up at her older brother, who just sat there in deep thought.

Would he… be like his old self again, considerate and loving? Those traits sounded super fake on a brother, but Misaki knew Shouichi better than that. He used to truly care for her. Whenever she had a problem, he would sit by her and silently be there for her, just silently supporting her. No matter how cheesy it sounded, she liked it. But now he didn't do it anymore. Maybe, just maybe, pouring out her innermost feelings and thoughts would do the trick and revive the old Shouichi. The new Shouichi was more popular, but she still liked the old calm one better. He wouldn't just stare as his sister cried herself to sleep every night just because of one Aomine Daiki. He would actually help her.

 _Shouichi… Do you hear my voice?_

"Aomine Daiki, huh." Her older brother pursed his lips together and frowned, glinting through his glasses.

"If he ever comes to Touou Gakuen, I'll knock his teeth out. And since he'll probably be in the basketball team…" Shouichi nabbed a nearby basketball. "Whenever he comes to practice, I'll use this and bash it onto his head."

Misaki gulped, but in spite of the cruel words, smiled. At least her brother was trying to do something, in that cutely violent way of his. After all, it was his way of protecting and loving her… Right? "Oh, and I'll probably enjoy it. If that ever happens, I'll send you pictures. Don't do anything yet, okay? I wanna bash him first." Wait, WHAT?

Shouichi merely smiled at her shocked expression, playfully nudging her arm. 'Wait in line, sis."

Was he turning into a sadistic yet protective creature?

Sometimes, Imayoshi Shouichi just made Misaki even more confused than anyone else did.

And that was saying something.

X

[A:/N]: Whew! Lots of emotional drama there, huh? I took so long to phrase the last part, her emotions, because it's just really difficult to write about Misaki. She's so complex, even for me, the creator…

I feel like I haven't properly brought out Imayoshi Shouichi's true personality as depicted in the anime – which can be quite creepy sometimes – and this chapter is to show his change and the flipside of the overprotective brother. Look out for more emotional stuff!


	4. It's Called High School

[A/N]: Thank you for all the reviews, and for **LoveSeasons** , **Rizuki Dhan** and **GreenEyedTrickster** for adding this to the story subscription list! **Lili,** I feel your pain… When I wrote the last chapter I got really weepy with all the drama and sad things happening in Misaki's past. She experienced a lot of awful things in second year, so she feels very painful about Aomine and her brother essentially. It was kind of the hardest bit of her life in middle school.

Sorry if the language used here is a bit too formal or fancy, because sometimes I find myself using the same words over and over again… The high school basketball circuit and the competitions will be much more important in this chapter. Please read and review!

X

"Go down and start doing 100 push-ups! And make it snappy! If I catch you slacking off you're gonna have to do another 20 push-ups and no break!" The manager of the Rakuzan basketball team was supervising the first stringers, whom she had been instructed to take attention of. Misaki wasn't exactly thrilled when Kantoku told her to focus on the first string only, but she did admit, it was part of his job to tell her so. Rakuzan depended a lot on those players to win for the school. Basically, they were much more important and well-trained than the others, and the second and third string were hence blatantly ignored a lot. But Misaki just gritted her teeth and did it.

While overseeing the first string's training and their welfare, she also had to gather data about the other schools, organising practice matches occasionally and managing the budget of the team. Being the manager required skill in taking care of the players' welfare and ability to play in matches, not so much skill in playing or observing basketball. That was the kantoku's job to do. At least in middle school she had picked up some tips from Satsuki, so Misaki wasn't completely lost, or befuddled with the money and details. But still she began reading more into Rakuzan's own regular players too, as Kantoku had handed her a booklet of information and asked her to study it carefully, so she could make good decisions during actual matches. After all, in Rakuzan, students took charge of their own clubs more so than the adults or coaches.

The players playing as the starting line-up or almost all the time in matches – these were the ones who usually played in matches and were the cream of the crop in the high school basketball circuit.

Second Year. Hayama Kotaro. Ah. The name did sound very familiar. Misaki examined the photo beside the name. It was the vampire-like blonde with a spiky tooth hanging out of his mouth, who was a Power Forward. Kantoku had written in almost illegible handwriting that he was an Unclaimed… Uncrowned King, huh? That title sounded way too familiar, again. She furrowed her brows and continued reading on about his history in basketball playing – as expected, super long stretching all the way back to elementary – and his vital statistics before flipping the page and going on to the others. Two others were second-years, and they were both Uncrowned Kings as well.

That was odd. Why would a first-class team like Rakuzan be mainly composed of second-years? Usually the senior third-years had the most experience and talent, so they were the main players. There must be something about that title that made them all so strong. After all, all of them had excellent physique and had lots of experience. Misaki smiled grimly. It reminded her of a group of annoyingly endearing eccentric basketball players in Teikou. She highlighted that title in the booklet, drew a star beside it before moving on to the details.

It seemed like the Uncrowned Kings in Rakuzan had been from middle schools which excelled in basketball. They were from different schools, yet shared the same common title. That was a little different from the people she knew. That confused Misaki even further, but she bookmarked the page with Hayama and kept ploughing through. Misaki read through Akashi's without much interest, as she already knew his background and all. But her interest was piqued again when she found that the last starter was someone she had never seen in the club before. The sole third year. Mayuzumi Chihiro, he was named. With an expressionless face and seemingly hollow silver-greyish eyes. Misaki scratched her head, puzzled again. That name sounded completely unfamiliar to her. She was pretty sure she had never seen or met him before.

Misaki peered at his history curiously. This was his first year as a starter, and since he was the oldest already among his fellow regulars, he should be really humble, and he should have worked very hard to fight for a spot in the team. That reminded her curiously of a certain pale and small-sized bluenette… Misaki frowned. Mayuzumi Chihiro also had a rather weak presence, just like him. She scanned the row of first stringers for some time, then finally spotted a boy with a face identical to that in the picture. He was struggling slightly with the push-ups that the others were able to do with a little effort and much complaining, lagging behind a little and panting.

But still Mayuzumi didn't complain a single bit, his mouth opening only to pant. Still, if he wasn't so exhausted, Misaki would probably have taken a much longer time to notice him, or not even have at all. That weak body of his also reminded her of Tetsu's fragile physique and his inability to keep up with the others, no matter what he did to improve. And if he was finally placed into the team this year, was there a particular reason for doing so? Misaki studied some of the handwritten notes Kantoku had thoughtfully penned down beside his profile, still struggling to read them. _Physically weak but reliable, basic support of team._ Aha. That could be used to describe Tetsu exactly. But why did Rakuzan have such a shadow? The idea of Tetsu using his weak presence had sprung from Akashi's mind, and how did Rakuzan have the same…

Misaki got it, and her eyes widened. So this Mayuzumi Chihiro was Akashi's work, probably. If not, how could Rakuzan accept such a person? She glanced at the redhead busy doing warm-ups, and he somehow changed the serious expression to something else. A smile? No, Akashi Seijuurou wouldn't smile that easily. She couldn't tell what, but he had guessed accurately what she was thinking about, observing her looking at Mayuzumi. That confirmed it. But how… how did Akashi manage to help Mayuzumi so easily within such a short span of time?

 _Since Akashi-kun sits with me for lunch every day, I'm going to ask him as soon as possible._

That confused her further, so Misaki snapped out of her thoughts and started looking at her notes on the other first stringers, going through each player's profile carefully. They were all excellent players, and all of them had previous experience in playing basketball. Furthermore, 100% of their careers stretched way back to elementary school as well. Yet in Rakuzan they were benchwarmers, when in any other school they would definitely be in the starting line-up. Misaki looked at their hopeful faces in the photos filled with passion and happiness, and felt a pang.

She really felt them.

In the past, the Teikou second string was always inferior to first string, no matter their achievements in second-string matches, no matter their attitude, no matter what they had done for Teikou. Since the first string already had the Generation of Miracles and their talents, it was practically impossible to get into the first string since they had superbly talented players already. They didn't need anybody else, and even the other first stringers were thought as obsolete. That frustrated one of her teammates in first string so much that he quit the team, but still cried about it afterwards. He loved basketball so much, but he had to give it up. Just because he thought he couldn't contribute to the team, and was always on the bench, only managing to watch, and do nothing else.

And Misaki could sense that if Akashi and the Crownless Generals kept dominating the first string starting line-up, some of these originally inspired hardworking players would grow discouraged and resign, making their talent go to waste. Rakuzan was growing way too similar to Teikou's first string, except that they were already an established elite school, having won all major tournaments for three years in a row.

She just didn't want a repeat of what happened.

X

Misaki inwardly did a little leap of joy as she finished her homework for the weekend after practice had finished, still yawning as she checked the clock. _11pm_. Shit. But she still grinned as she packed up her bag to prepare to get home. She had made plans to meet up with Satsuki, Ki-kun and maybe even Tetsu… She couldn't wait to see Shouichi again. Aomine was in his school and was his kouhai – a really laughable thing since Shouichi hated him terribly for hurting her – and maybe he could tell her if Aomine had changed for the better. Her older brother would have the ability and authority to make him go to practise for matches, and would torture him. She doubted that Shouichi would be able to make a huge difference in his character though. Part of him was still that arrogant, irritating, devil-may-care kind of teen. He might think that Aomine's behaviour was _justified_ and even might argue with Satsuki about his attitude. Aomine had become a monster, and he was never coming back. Misaki had to admit to herself that yes, she still somewhat had feelings for him. After all she had been his friend throughout middle school, and although he had made her heart break, Aomine was still firmly etched into her memory.

She refused to believe that he had no good qualities left. As long as Satsuki was around to help, Aomine wouldn't be that bad. She might even convince him to start loving basketball again. Sighing in frustration, Misaki finished packing and ensured that all her clothes and stuff were packed before leaving the dorm. She had arranged to meet Akashi to board the evening train back to Tokyo. Unlike her, Akashi wasn't going to meet any of his old friends or hadn't planned to yet, which was kind of weird, but Misaki had already accepted it as part of his unique personality.

 _Beep._ Misaki clicked on her phone, and found that it was a message from Hoshimi, her current bestie in Rakuzan.

To: You

From: Hoshimi

just saw akashi today. creeepy much! how do you stand him as ur deskie agen. i pity u so much omg

Misaki sighed and typed in a reply. _He isn't that creepy you know, he's just somewhat different._ She still didn't understand how people thought Akashi was creepy. Hoshimi thought he was frightening and _psycho_ , and complained to her countless times about it, which Misaki found odd. Akashi might have a lot of eccentricities, just like a bunch of rainbow-haired basketballers in Teikou, but that didn't make him particularly dangerous or anything. He was just a regular high-schooler whose eye colour somehow had changed. Hoshimi and her other classmates were a little stubborn. Maybe Misaki accepted his character because like him, she had two sides of her personality. That was somewhat exaggerating it, but… she was like a kaleidoscope, always changing colours, never quite the same.

Akashi could be serious and somewhat… commanding one moment, then occasionally a softer side of him appeared, one that Misaki suspected was the one who helped Tetsu become a first stringer with his tactics and the one who celebrated Teikou's win in first and second year. Akashi so far had been nicer to only her in school for some reason, still stoic and stiff with his other classmates and basketball teammates.

Somehow, she liked it. She liked it that Akashi Seijuurou somehow was different towards her. That made her a little nervous and blushy for some reason, but she liked it anyway.

X

On the train, Akashi had been surprisingly chatty for once, for him. He didn't exactly talk a lot compared to other people, but it was significantly more than what he usually said. He asked about who Misaki was going to see again, asked about where she lived, and asked about her brother and Aomine's relationship in Touou.

Although the way he asked the questions was kind of cold – his typical style – she appreciated it. She _still_ couldn't stop blushing whenever he leaned a little close to her to ask her something though. Whatever Akashi did, it made her heart overturn and made her pulse quicken. Which annoyed her in a way. Misaki was never one of those girls who loved boys and masculine boys with so-called "hot bods" or anything. While she admired their muscles and somewhat secretly like to see them, Misaki didn't go boy-crazy or anything unlike some of her airhead classmates…

But Akashi Seijuurou was different from everyone else, and made her so damn confused about her feelings she hated it. She liked the way the both of them seemed to be alone in a bubble of their own whenever they interacted, though. Misaki was the only one Akashi was even mildly close to, and he was basically the one whom she felt the most comfortable with. No need for any conversation or witty remarks. Just pure, comforting silence. Sometimes, she even felt uncomfortable with asking questions. Misaki much preferred not saying anything, just observing everything around them, the two of them together.

Due to her overwhelming curiosity, she asked him about the Uncrowned Kings, and apparently they also were named the Crownless Generals by the others in the basketball circuit. They would be considered the strongest in the basketball league, if not for the Kiseki no Sedai's appearance. So they were basically overshadowed by them. With a slight pang, Misaki realised that Aomine hadn't taken the time to explain that to her or told her about any formidable group on the court. So Akashi enlightened her. They all played a variety of positions, and for some reason Eikichi used to play Power Forward, but switched to playing Centre.

The other two players were in Seirin – as heard from Kuroko – and Kirisaki Daiichi High. Kiyoshi Teppei from Seirin was a lighthearted Centre, and had played against Eikichi once before. _Maybe Eikichi-kun switched to Centre so that he could get revenge, huh…_ The more Misaki heard about the Crownless Generals, the more she liked them. They were competing furiously against each other, never hating basketball, always enjoying the game. So much better than that group of rainbow-hair-coloured idiots. Yes, they were united, but the Uncrowned Kings loved basketball more, and had better outlooks. That was what really mattered to her. And as Misaki's thoughts drifted away to her past life, she decided to ask the red-haired boy something she usually wouldn't, her heart palpitating for some reason, anticipating his response.

"Akashi-kun, do you… miss your old teammates?"

"What do you mean? I suppose I do think about them occasionally."

"Then… Do you want to join me and Satsuki to meet up with Tetsu?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I prefer not to answer, that is all."

Those beautiful heterochromatic eyes looked directly into hers, as if challenging her to say otherwise. She didn't

Akashi shut up like a clam afterwards and didn't say anything before saying goodbye at the train station when they reached. Although she wasn't disturbed or shocked at his reply – since she had gotten used to his company actually liked that personality of his – Misaki was curious about that curt, short refusal of his without any explanation. Why didn't he want to see his old teammates? He thought of them and missed them. Occasionally she had asked him about his Teikou past a little sensitively and cautiously, but he never really answered her, usually answering quickly and vaguely, leaving her even more puzzled than before. She had clear vivid memories of her Teikou friends, though they weren't even playing on the same court as her. Akashi, being the captain, probably would have fonder memories of them being together merrily in first year or even the first half of second year.

However, being in charge of rainbow-haired idiots with weird habits and overly-large egos must be really tiring. Akashi was an exception though. He definitely would have made them all knuckle down and listen to him, obey his authority as in his own words to the current team, "I am absolute." Almost hilarious. Misaki liked him much better than the others in a way, because he was likely only geared towards victory due to that mindset of his. But since Aomine and Kise had complained countlessly about their 'fierce and damn scary' captain, Misaki deduced that Akashi must have been a strong stoic leader without much emotional attachment to his teammates, and decided not to probe into the matter. He wasn't a tsundere like that green-haired dude, was he? Nah. Akashi Seijuurou was much better than that.

Tsunderes were awkwardly cute, and though the boy was kind of cute in a way sometimes with his quirks, most people wouldn't call him _awkward_ , right?

The moment she stepped off the train after a long, long wait (she didn't care about the exact time taken), Akashi had already disappeared. Misaki sighed, taking off her earphones before glimpsing a black-haired lanky boy with glasses and a _very_ familiar stance leaning on a nearby column, yawning while checking his phone, not even noticing her. And she practically ran towards him, shouting his name, her heat hoping that it would be the old Shou-nee that she would see, and not the new Imayoshi Shouichi that first appeared in second year. "Shouichi!" With a surprised look, her brother turned and got engulfed by a hug from his younger sister. Although it might sound creepy, Misaki studied Shouichi carefully, examining every detail.

Her brother had grown a little, and his legs got slightly more muscular and longer, probably from Satsuki's exhausting training regime. He was looking as cheerful as usual, with that usual squinty glance on his face. He smiled at him, also taking her in. She had grown a little as well, and she seemed more mature and less hyper since she left for Rakuzan. Maybe because Rakuzan was a serious old school, but Misaki was still bright and cheerful, just not that hyperactive deredere she was once before. And he liked that change in her. She seemed to have more charisma, more substance. No longer that empty-headed little sister he once had.

Both of them journeyed home together on the subway, catching up on news. Shouichi told Misaki all about Aomine and his skipping practice, but didn't really show much concern since he was performing rather well. He was the ace, and his Kantoku Harasawa did mind a bit, but if they wanted to keep Aomine in the team they would have to accede to his requests. Misaki sighed while hearing this. For so long, she had hoped that he had become just a little better, not as selfish and arrogant as before… But Aomine was naturally talented. She somewhat pitied him for being all alone, in the highest position, the best player on the court. Because Aomine was all alone. The Generation of Miracles could match up to him somewhat, but after all he was known as the ace of the Teikou team. He was practically unbeatable. At least in one-on-ones. He was lonely, all by himself, and no one could understand him fully and felt his loss.

 _But there was Akashi Seijuurou after all._

 _Was he as skilled?_

And although Misaki somewhat was able to understand what he was feeling, she didn't feel it herself or anything. She merely sympathised with his plight, but wasn't exactly able to _feel_ his loss. That pained her, and him as well. It was just that Aomine Daiki showed emotions in a different way. He was kind of like a tsundere, always refusing to admit his feelings… Misaki had to act as peacemaker between him and his pink-haired childhood friend countless times just because that baka refused to admit that he was wrong.

Misaki barely chatted with Shouichi along the ride home, with just him talking to her about his team's eccentricities, and showing her a group picture of them all standing awkwardly in the Touou Locker Room. There was a puppy-eyed brunette which Misaki thought was SO cute, one of those sweet and shy boys. Ryou Sakurai was a freshman shooter with a clutch personality, which Imayoshi thought was kind of cute in a way as well. Wakamatsu Kousuke was a dirty-blonde-haired centre that looked super aggressive and a little annoying at times, _just_ like Eikichi Nebuya, her own team's musclehead. Apparently Wakamatsu liked to argue with Aomine a lot, and as Shouichi started complaining about the both of them, Misaki couldn't help but start laughing.

Aomine would just be the type to irritate those kind of dedicated but snappy players. There was also Yoshinori Susa, a big-sized third year and vice-captain. Then there was Aomine and Shouichi. Shouichi was only average-sized for a basketball player, but would be the smallest player in Rakuzan along with Hayama and was indeed the shortest in Touou, besides Ryou Sakurai who looked like a little child anyway. In the photo, the Touou players all wore bored expressions on their faces, except Ryou who was smiling nervously as Aomine had decided to lean on him for support, and Shouichi who was squinting into the camera as usual. Satsuki was too busy trying to get Aomine off Ryou to look into the camera at all. Misaki frowned.

Touou Gakuen really was a team that emphasised winning more than teamwork or anything else. Essentially, it was the type of team she disliked the most. Rakuzan wasn't much better, actually. Third year Shouta Higuchi, the previous manager and ex-first year player of Rakuzan, had resigned because he heard Akashi was joining the team, and thought he was of no use anymore, what with a tactical genius as captain. Thus they really needed a new manager, and recruited her. She had only seen Shouta Higuchi once, when she passed by him in the hallway, and she only recognised him after staring at his name tag intently. Misaki could kind of tell that Shouta knew that she was the manager, as when she did so, he merely smiled and waved a little, startling her. A third year, he was going to enter university soon. It was kind of sad, the way he quit the team. According to Hayama, Shouta Higuchi had truly loved basketball. First, he was a player, next the manager, then… Basketball was out of his life altogether.

No matter how much effort and dedication Shouta had put into his training or trying to become better at basketball in any way, it hadn't paid off at all. He loved basketball more than anyone else in Rakuzan, but didn't get the chance to play or do anything related to it at all. So in a way, she couldn't criticise Touou. Misaki just sighed.

Why was everything in the world just so miserable?

X

After going home and dumping her things in her room, the pair of siblings stayed there to rest for a while, before Misaki went out to see her best friend. Or maybe ex-best friend. They didn't really talk a lot anymore, her being so far away. Maybe occasional midnight chats a few times a week or texts, but most of the time Satsuki was trying out some clothes, and Misaki was just worn out from all the practice and brainwork. Rakuzan was _tough_.

"Mi-chan! You're finally back! I missed you so much you know… Eeeek~" Momoi Satsuki threw her arms around her indigo-haired best friend with the most _adorable_ expression on her face. Misaki smiled at her cheerily. Satsuki seemed just as deredere as usual, happy and carefree. Despite her looks, Satsuki was just way too observant for a normal high-schooler, being able to scan other people and read their potential and data. So Misaki had to be careful not to expose any information about Rakuzan and be wary when she came close, and anyway Satsuki also would know better than to reveal too much information about her players.

"Nanodayo, you look exactly the same, Mi-chan! We're going to the Aida Kagetora club to swim today, remember? Tetsu-kun and Seirin will be there also! Lets catch up later~" Misaki grinned as both of them boarded the subway. She missed Satsuki's cheerful laughter and personality. People in Rakuzan were just too serious, sometimes even nerdy. It was hard to find someone about as happy as you were. Misaki only got to go back to Tokyo about once every fortnight or every week if she was lucky, so her schedule was packed. She had to see Ki-kun, Tetsu – which she was going to see anyway – and all her other old teammates… Sometimes, she really regretted going to Kyoto, far far away.

Sometimes, she wondered if she went away just to forget about her tormented past, and not to see those same old faces again.

But she couldn't help missing them.

X

[A/N]: I hope that was good, and there's going to be a slow, really slow bit of fluff between Akashi, Misaki and eventually someone else, who is a surprise. The next chapter would probably be about a nice mini little meeting between Momoi, Misaki and Kuroko! That will be more comedy and happiness, rather than deep emotions and thoughts, which this story is currently focused on. Some comic relief from the tense emotional parts…

Kaijou and Shuutoku aren't really prominent now, and I'll try to bring them out soon as both of them are really important teams. They appear really early in the anime, especially Kaijou, but since this is Rakuzan-based, technically they don't meet often unless they're playing in semifinals or finals of games, as Rakuzan is in Kyoto.

And please comment on my new story idea below!

 _[Kise/OC] Possibly Oneshot_

 _She sees him almost every day, just sitting there, smiling all the time like a golden beam of sunlight. He's there for everyone to see, and she doesn't want to say anything that'll come out as rude or anything. And she values her life, after all. If she even seems vaguely friendly towards him, at least a dozen girls would start mobbing her for so-called stealing their Kise-kun._

 _He sees her almost every day, just sitting there, dreamily staring outside the classroom through the window like she's travelling somewhere out of this world. She's there for everyone to see, and she doesn't seem to see how much he notices her, how he tries to say something to her, how much he thinks about her when she's not there, unlike everyone else._

 _They're like two shooting stars far away from each other in different galaxies, travelling in different directions, being pulled together abruptly for almost no reason at all._


	5. Old Friends

[A/N]: Thank you **NiftyShark** (oh gosh sorry I'm late) **, Rizuki Dhan** and **Naliyu** for adding this to your story subscription list! Please try to review more! It's kind of sad when no one reviews your work or chapters… But honestly it's fine if you just read. The Seirin team will _finally_ appear here and they are going to be more significant, especially Kuroko, since the anime is mainly about them, after all. Please read and review so I can improve.

X

The two girls strode into the Aida Kagetora Gym, carrying multiple bags with them. Beforehand, Misaki had dropped off her bags at her home, before going out with Satsuki to eat lunch and enjoy themselves outside.

Now they were going to swim and exercise together, and in Satsuki's words, " _finally_ see Tetsu-kun again and examine his team as well!". There was a balding, serious-looking man at the counter who was busily writing down some information as they came in to register.

"Excuse me? We would like to use this gym…" Misaki faltered as the man looked up and revealed his name tag.

 _Aida Kagetora. Sports Trainer and Manager._

"Oh yes, please fill in your names if you are members."

Then in Misaki's mind, puzzle pieces clicked into place as she stared hard at the man. _Aida Kagetora._ Oh yes. A player on Japan's previous National Basketball Team. Old friend of Kantoku Eiji Shirogane. And father of Seirin Coach Aida Riko. That was interesting.

Both of them stepped into the training area nervously, eyeing all the equipment around them. "Satsuki…?" Misaki rolled her eyes as the bubblegum-pink-haired girl ran around quickly, obviously trying to find Seirin and her ultimate crush, Tetsu. Since Day One of their friendship, it had been super obvious that Satsuki liked the expressionless bluenette.

Every time after practice, the first one to pounce upon him and offer him something to cool him down had been Satsuki. Whenever Tetsu appeared out of nowhere, Satsuki always turned a shade darker than her own pink hair and started stuttering for some reason. Poor Tetsu, who was naturally observant, wasn't even aware of Satsuki's feelings – which were way too obvious already – which everyone found especially laughable.

Kise sometimes even liked to imitate Satsuki's high-pitched voice whenever she saw Tetsu.

" _Tetsu-kunnnn~ Do you need a towel? Here's a bottle of Pocari for you!"_

Misaki couldn't say anything to mock Satsuki though, because she would take revenge and start talking about her with Aomine… Which was even more embarrassing than Satsuki liking Tetsu, and hurt her.

Thankfully Satsuki understood her well enough nowadays to know not to talk about that forbidden topic.

"TETSU-KUN!" Misaki turned around as she spotted Satsuki running towards a group of boys who were currently treading water in the pool and a somewhat short brunette standing beside them. Sighing, Misaki followed her as she tried to find Tetsu in the midst of all the boys. As she got closer, she rolled her eyes cynically once again as she saw Satsuki practically overwhelming or suffocating someone, as a shade of teal flashed out from her arms.

As she got closer, she spotted the brunette looking at Satsuki curiously with just a little irritation, and a couple of the boys climbing out with a suspiciously perverted look in their eyes.

 _Pervs… Why are all boys the same everywhere in Japan?_

Misaki facepalmed as she ran over to the poor bluenette who seemed completely overwhelmed.

"Are you okay, Tetsu? Satsuki, you're suffocating him…!"

Meanwhile, with a slightly red face, the brunette behind her shoved a guy with glasses back into the water.

"STOP TRYING TO SNEAK A PEEK! TRAINING DOUBLED FOR ALL!"

Giggling slightly at this, Misaki managed to pry Satsuki's arms and body away from the struggling Tetsu, and set him free. Satsuki just glared at Misaki, pouting.

"You're so mean! I miss Tetsu so much and you don't let me hug him at all!"

The fragile-looking Tetsu emerged from Satsuki's arms and looked at Satsuki somewhat awkwardly.

"Can you hug me a little lighter next time? I was suffocating…"

Misaki was on the verge of bursting with laughter as Satsuki cringed and immediately started apologizing with an obvious blush on her face.

"Sorry, Tetsu, I didn't mean to do that, I just missed you so much…" As Misaki was about to start teasing Satsuki, the furious brunette strode over.

"Who on earth are you people, and why are you trying to STRANGLE and MURDER Kuroko! Name, School, Relationship with Kuroko, Explanation!" The girl shouted at them, and glared at Satsuki with her hands on her hips.

 _Aida Riko, Seirin Manager._

As Misaki opened her mouth to introduce herself, Satsuki abruptly wrapped her arms around Tetsu once more. Misaki already knew what was coming next, and sighed.

"Tetsu-kun…" She blushed a little.

 _Not again, Satsuki. Why on earth do you like Tetsu so much anyway?_

"is my boyfriend!"

Aida Riko's jaws dropped, and dropped even more to the floor as Satsuki pressed her big chest against Tetsu's and smiled in slight embarrassment. The Seirin boys leaned forward a little and gazed at Tetsu and Satsuki with envy and shock in their eyes.

 _Die, Kuroko…!_

"Wait, KUROKO! You have a GIRLFRIEND?"

Aida recovered from her momentary shock, eyeing Tetsu this time with such a memeable expression.

X

"No, Kantoku. She was my manager back in Teikou."

The response came, as Satsuki collapsed onto Misaki, practically crying. Aida Riko sighed with relief at the answer, as she turned to face the two strangers. She particularly disliked the pink-haired one, since she had a large chest and given the Seirin boys' reputation for being perverted… She was going to be a _major_ distraction from their training.

Huffing with annoyance, Riko had no choice but to lead them away from the pool together with Tetsu, still looking at them with distaste.

"Introduce yourself." Again, the pink-haired girl went first, still looking at Kuroko dreamily as she spoke.

 _She really is all over Kuroko when obviously he isn't interested…_

"Momoi Satsuki, Touou Gakuen Basketball Club Manager, Friend and Ex-Manager of Tetsu-kun! We came here to visit him and to exercise too~"

Momoi explained while winking at her friend, whose cheeks seemed suspiciously red, apparently embarrassed to be together with such a shameless creature. Riko frowned.

 _Touou_ _Basketball Manager?_

That name sounded way too familiar… That was the school the Teikou ace, Aomine Daiki went to. She shuddered internally. And it was the school Seirin was about to play against next. She would be up against this girl, and that monstrously good Aomine.

"So you know Aomine Daiki, right?"

Momoi huffed in annoyance before facing her with her hands on her hips.

"Dai-chan is _so_ irritating sometimes! I wanted to follow Tetsu-kun to Seirin, but Dai-chan can't take care of himself, so I gotta look after him! After all, I'm his childhood friend, so I'm technically responsible for everything he does. Besides, Aomine-san is too busy to take care of Dai-chan, so I need to!"

Riko drew her breath in. So this was Aomine Daiki's childhood friend, always taking care and cleaning up after him, the Teikou Manager. Very likely a skilled tactical expert, knowing how to deal with troublesome boys and difficult plays in a match. Touou Gakuen would be their toughest opponent yet. Riko couldn't imagine what the standards of _Rakuzan_ , which won all the major tournaments for the past three years, would be like. Seirin had to buck up.

Riko dragged her attention to the indigo-haired laughing girl besides Momoi, sizing her up at a glance. A generally happy and carefree kind of person, but she also had a unique aura of intelligence and maturity around her. If she knew Kuroko, she most likely had to have something to do with basketball. Was she a previous manager?

"Urm… I'm Imayoshi Misaki. Rakuzan High Basketball Club Manager, friend of Tetsu." Riko's eyes widened. _Rakuzan High Manager…_ Yet another insanely talented school.

She eyed Misaki apprehensively. Why was she the manager of such a prestigious school. Her name didn't seem familiar at all, and Tetsu didn't mention any such name. But that surname unsettled her.

 _Imayoshi.. Imayoshi…_ An image of a sarcastic-looking and wryly smiling teen popped into her head.

"Are… Are you the sister of Imayoshi Shouichi, the Touou Basketball Captain?" Riko blurted out before thinking, gazing at Misaki with eyes like saucers.

Blushing a little and lowering her head, she nodded. Riko's mind was still bursting with questions. Why didn't she follow her brother to Touou Gakuen? Why did she go to Rakuzan High? And _how_ did this girl have connections to so many basketball players?!

"My relationship with Tetsu is complicated. I was in the second string back in Teikou, and first Aomine's friend. Then as I practised with him, we met Tetsu. Afterwards when Tetsu grew stronger, I often hung out together with the first stringers, the Kiseki no Sedai without Kise. So… That was how I got to know practically all of them."

Imayoshi Misaki blushed a little but also seemed somewhat pained at the same time, with her eyes hiding a terrible emotion. So that was how this girl got to know them all. Interesting. But why did she seem so emotional and unhappy?

Then Misaki abruptly stood up straighter and smiled. What a strange girl. If she was only in the second string, how did she manage to get into Rakuzan, such a prestigious high? Wouldn't she not be worth them scouting? Then… Why was she in the club as a manager and not as a player?

X

"Sorry for the question, but…" Riko bit her lip. "How did you end up in Rakuzan?"

Satsuki immediately glared at Riko in frustration and a _look_ , which Riko blatantly ignored, while Misaki smiled softly, thinking about her past with mixed feelings. _I just… wanted to… leave…_

"I… decided not to stay in Tokyo. I…" Before she could say anything, her bubbly friend chimed in first, cutting her off.

"Cos Misa-chan is insanely smart! She won a Science scholarship to Rakuzan as they talent-spotted her. If it wasn't for that, she probably would have gone to Touou along with me and Dai-chan. But I'm glad she did!"

Sighing with relief, Misaki glanced gratefully at the deredere. Satsuki was always saving her from answering super-awkward questions that concerned her past. They always made her feel emotional and moody, somewhat sad and detached, and reminded her of something she wanted to forget for ever. The Seirin coach, however, still looked slightly sceptical but reluctantly accepted Satsuki's explanation, but still eyed Misaki with some curiosity.

"Sorry, but Seirin needs to practise for our upcoming game against _Touou_. So may you… leave? Maybe you can see Kuroko-kun again some other time."

Riko stated uncomfortably, as Satsuki sent an irritated glare in her direction. The older girl looked back at her meaningfully, with a message that clearly said _We need to practise to defeat you, annoying twerp._ Tetsu bowed politely before saying goodbye in his monotone voice and left. Before Satsuki could run after him or start bashing Riko on the head, Misaki quickly pulled Satsuki's arm away and waved to the Seirin coach, before she could burst out in protest.

"Ne, that B-Cup coach was so mean! Her chest is so small, and she still orders me about! I rarely get to see Tetsu-kun, and B-Cup is depriving me of the chance!"

Satsuki wailed, only to get a purposely judgemental look from her best friend.

"S-shut up, Misaki! What's wrong with liking Tetsu-kun!" Misaki's best friend nearly burst into tears, only to get a slight chuckle from the girl beside her.

"Hurry up, let's swim, Satsuki. Don't be an immature _baka_. Besides, how does having a small chest have to do with her meanness?" "It just does! You'll see!"

While swimming, Misaki looked back at the Seirin boys, who were still treading water and complaining loudly, getting glares from Aida Riko. She sighed. They seemed so much like her old Teikou team. Although they were only second-string, they all trained diligently and practised hard together, all striving to get into the first string one day and get that prized uniform.

To represent their school in competitions and to have that _jersey_ was the ultimate reward. They weren't as talented as their first string friends, but at least… at least they were friends. At least they worked together happily, at least they only had fond memories of one another. Unlike what had happened to that arrogant first string. For about the first time ever, Misaki really felt proud of being in the second string, and thought it better to be in that united team rather than have better skills.

Any day now, she thought, she would choose to be in second string than in first string in a heartbeat. The emotional damage the first stringers, especially Tetsu, endured was way too much to bear. She knew what it felt like, to have your friends or people around you leave you behind, to abandon you, to deem you worthless or not being able to understand anything… And that was why she felt such a connection to Tetsu.

They both knew that they both were hurt badly by a certain ganguro's actions, only that Misaki knew that Tetsu had been hurt far worse by his team. Looking at the smiling yet whining boys in the pool with a fierce coach who still cared about their welfare, Misaki finally understood why he joined Seirin. They were basketball lovers, and perhaps some basketball idiots, and that was just the way he liked his teammates.

Misaki knew herself that she was just a nerd who enjoyed reading compared to her other friends, and thought that the main reason why Tetsu shouldn't join Seirin was because it was an entirely new school. She thought would be hard to get into a decent university because of that.

But her friends mostly thought that Tetsu deserved a better environment to play basketball in than a whole new team with only second-years as his senpais, since he had so much talent. Satsuki had actually scoffed Seirin and said that his talent was being _wasted._ Misaki didn't think so.

As long as Seirin had a basketball court, gym or club for Tetsu to practise, he was okay, wasn't it?

And when she thought about it, Seirin seemed completely _fine_. Their team was cool and the coach dedicated, and although they lacked experience some players were quite talented. If Seirin had been an older school, they probably would have gotten as good as Kaijou, Shuutoku or some of the other strong schools.

Misaki had sneaked a peek at the team players' body stats and thought they were physically strong enough. One of them seemed to have a sort of special ability. She didn't know what, but it had something to do with his eyes… And there was another with glasses and a fierce expression that seemed to be rather talented.

This year, Seirin was going to pose a threat. Tetsu saw something in them, and once Tetsu saw something in you, he was going to help you achieve the best you could do. He was the Teikou strategist second-in-command to Akashi, after all. He had joined Seirin for a good reason.

Misaki couldn't agree with him more.

TIME SKIP

The two girls went out later on, shopping at some cute shops – entirely Satsuki's idea – to help Misaki get "cuter, more stylish clothes". Apparently, Misaki's clothes were outdated and way too baggy to be nice. Since it was one of the few times she got to see her old friend, she just complied, but with an annoyed huff.

She was never one of those girls who liked to doll themselves up just to go out or anything. Misaki didn't even like to wear a dress, since it was annoyingly long or short, hindering her movement. Call her tomboyish or rough, but the Imayoshis were always practical people, moving on, not liking things that obstructed them.

As hours flew by, Misaki couldn't help but yawn tiredly. She had been out the entire day with Satsuki, only resting after swimming by eating lunch then straightaway rushing to go out, and visit as many places as possible. _How can Satsuki get tired so easily from running just one round around the track but still be so energetic after shopping for like 4 hours?_

"Satsuki… I'm tired and it's like 5pm already… Can we go sit down at a café or something?" Her best friend just pouted, and reluctantly allowed some time for the two of them to relax.

"Satsuki…" She was hesitant to ask something that was discussed so many times already, and had yielded no results.

"Yup, Mi-chan?"

"Has… Aomine gotten back to usual? Is he practising?"

As expected, the girl sighed and leaned back on her chair.

"Dai-chan's gotten so annoying lately. He practises a little more than last time I guess, but lately he's gotten super serious for some reason. He even stopped looking at Horikita Mai-Chan for a week now! Can you believe it? I tried asking him what's the matter, but he shouted at me and we're not talking. Stupid Dai-chan."

Misaki sucked in her breath and gazed dejectedly at the ground, barely paying attention to the last sentence about him being moody. _Aomine still hasn't changed yet, huh…_ She was hoping that somehow the ganguro had gotten more mature, had realised that winning wasn't everything, and that basketball was more than a game. Was he going to remain as cold and emotionless for the rest of his time playing basketball?

Probably.

And it seemed like no one, no one could change him, not even his childhood friend, the one closest to him. She stared hard at the stone ground, gnashing her teeth and thinking of a bluenette with low presence. Tetsu and Satsuki had been so badly affected by the change in the team's attitudes, and had to get tortured every day seeing their teammates play and practise the sport that they hated so much.

Satsuki's words replayed themselves in her mind. _Nobody laughs anymore. Emotionless, they deal with their quota of victory._ Satsuki's tears. Tetsu's sleepless nights. Their pain.

It wasn't entirely Aomine's fault, but he was the one who had changed first. The first one. And the one who spelt doom for the Teikou basketball team's unity and friendship. Were the others still as indifferent? The green-haired and purple-head probably were, and a particular blondie was likely enjoying his time in Kaijou playing for his team, and getting bashed by his teammates for being so cheerful.

Misaki smiled at the thought. Kise was always the livewire, the one to brighten up the mood when needed, and sometimes even when it was unneeded. But he was the player who hadn't changed the most among the Kiseki no Sedai. The only miracle who hadn't slipped past the thin line of confidence into arrogance and perhaps, despair.

"MISACCHI!"

As Misaki sipped her coffee thoughtfully, her peace was rudely shattered by a hyperactive blonde model, who wrapped his arms around hers the moment he saw her, inciting annoyed shrieks from the fangirls around him who obviously recognised him. Spluttering out her drink, the indigo-haired girl sighed and pushed Kise away, earning yet another pout from her friend.

"Ne, Misacchi, I haven't seen you in so long, but you do this to me… My heart is shattered…"

The blonde started to cry, earning identically cynical looks from his two friends and tears from the other females.

"It's okay, Kise-kun, we'll be here for you!"

A lovestruck waitress announced, walking forward to attempt to touch the model.

"Whenever Kise appears, why does the number of females around us increase…?! Put on a disguise or something next time, kay?"

Satsuki burst out angrily, swatting away the fangirls like they were flies or something.

"Precisely. We're never gonna have any peace. But, sayonara, fangirls!"

Swiftly, Misaki grabbed Kise's arm and quickly started sprinting away across the street, with angry fangirls screaming behind for her to "stop kidnapping Kise-sama!" And an unfortunate pink-haired girl dashed out as well, tried to catch up with the two sprinters, and was huffing and puffing like crazy, barely sighting them run, almost getting lost.

 _Once I reach those two annoying assholes… I'm gonna kill them!_

X

"Ne, Misacchi, we lost Momocchi, and she's not gonna be happy!" Kise panted as Misaki looked behind her to check that no crazed fangirl was running after them, still frowning as she thought of their situation. The blonde peered curiously at his friend's face as she acted as if she didn't hear him, still frowning, appearing to be thinking of something else.

 _Was she thinking about Aominecchi again?_ It might seem weird to think like that, but whenever Misacchi drifted off like that, it was usually about that boy. Kise wanted to slap him again and again for hurting Misacchi. It was so _blatantly_ obvious that the both of them liked each other and possibly even loved the other.

They were on the verge of getting together in second year. But since Aominecchi had made Misacchi broken, they were no longer friends, acting like they didn't know each other.

And that hurt Kise so much, when the girl sank into a deep dark abyss in second year. He couldn't bear to see his old friend so dejected, like her life had no meaning, just making up for it by studying much harder, ignoring her basketball friends, and putting up a cheerful false front, pretending and tricking herself that everything was fine, when things weren't.

Yet Kise admired the ganguro so much. He was such a good player, naturally he should find it boring, right…? _Stop tricking yourself. Stop admiring him._ But no matter what he did, Aomine still remained as an idol, someone whom he aimed to play against and impress. Still, he had hurt Misacchi beyond any boundaries. _That_ was practically unforgivable.

"Misacchi, are you… thinking of Aominecchi again?" Kise clasped her hand tightly, peering at her concernedly, trying to help her. In response, the girl beside him smiled sadly, tugging at her hair, slipping her hand away from his.

"Yes, but I'm fine, Kise. It's okay."

 _Fine._ What a funny word. Why was it that whenever other people said they were fine, they weren't okay at all? Misaki definitely wasn't her usual self. Anyway, what _was_ her usual self? Misacchi was always… changing. Kise had noticed that in the past, whenever she was around Aominecchi, she was always slightly less talkative, and wore a sweeter smile on her face, her cheeks redder than usual, forever blissful.

Misacchi was always happy, yes, but whenever she hung around that boy, she seemed permanently in heaven for some reason and never seemed to be upset no matter what stupid things he did.

She could be downright cynical at times – she said she was cynical around derederes like him – and quiet and thoughtful when she was thinking about something. Perhaps Misacchi's true self was when she was around Aominecchi. Slightly thoughtful, blissful, quiet and happy. Ever since third year, she was never like that anymore.

Second year – she was always trying to appear cheery with fake smiles and trying to be normal, when she secretly wasn't. Did she think that he wouldn't notice? Everyone did. When asked about it, Momocchi said that it was personal and refused to tell no matter how much he bugged her.

Now she still kept things to herself, alone, and especially since she was far off in Kyoto, she couldn't let someone help her personally face-to-face that easily. He knew she was still hurting inside, still pained by her experiences, not quite healed yet. But somehow she managed to go back into the basketball gyms which she remembered so horribly.

Staring at the dark head of indigo hair which was slightly swaying in the wind, Kise could admit to himself privately that he had some feelings for his old friend, yes, he did like her. To an extent that it was painful to hide. But she was the one girl in the entire world that he couldn't have.

Because her heart was broken for ever.

Shattered.

It had been glued back forcefully together by herself in an effort to pick herself up and move on, but it was still broken, with thin cracks getting wider and wider. She wouldn't trust anyone after Aominecchi had broken her heart, and her friendship with Satsuki became less close.

Yes, Satsuki had tried to get them back together for the _longest_ time, but got snubbed by both sides, and ended up making two souls even more despaired, and made them cry even harder in their hearts.

Despite the strong face she put on in front of everybody else, someday she was going to slip through.

X

[A/N]: Sorry, but somehow I feel that in this chapter Misaki is portrayed differently, more of a cheery and witty type of person, but still has different sides, interestingly. There's definitely more humour and less emotional thought here. Misaki is such a hard person to write because I wrote her to be somewhat similar to someone around me… who is kind of unwilling to share her true feelings as well. Please review or comment! 3


	6. Strange Relationships

[A/N]: This chapter is a little bit of fluff now! Thank you **Aonial, WhiteArcobaleno, Juvia Hanaka, alice 0 and neminka** for adding this to your story subscription list! Thank you **NiftyShark** for reviewing, and yes, Misaki was in Teikou but instead in the second string and knew the GoM as friends. In second string they are less strict about the boy-girl gender issue, and because Misaki was talented they let her in. A flashback will be coming somewhat soon and maybe that will help clarify things a little? So sorry for the confusion, because I do realise I haven't explained that bit very well!

X

"Shake hands!" 'Thank you for the game!"

Misaki couldn't help but yawn when their match just ended. Rakuzan had won once again, of course. For the Interhigh, the standard of their opponents had been improving slowly as they passed round after round after round… But still she could sense that her team was super bored. They hadn't encountered _any_ sort of challenge, just above average players.

Especially Hayama.

That hyperactive deredere had started doing extra push-ups for no good reason after their last match, and when Misaki asked him why, he replied that he felt bored and since he had a lot of energy left, why not do something to improve his strength?

That little prick actually thought that their opponents were reserving their strength and Hayama decided to just start doing strength training all by himself, _voluntarily_.

And that was just after a match. Usually playing basketball matches was supposed to be tiring and all, but Misaki was starting to seriously suspect that her harsh trainings were in reality more exhausting than Rakuzan's matches then. At least they would be able to meet Yousen soon, according to her calculations.

She had asked Akashi and he replied that Yousen would be the school posing the greatest challenge to them out of all of those they played so far. Hopefully her players wouldn't be so restless, then.

First she could watch a Kaijou and Touou Gakuen match – as a favour to Shouichi, Satsuki and Ki-kun – then here would only be about two more matches till they met the school of the purple-haired giant called Murasakibara Atsushi.

 _They couldn't possibly lose before they meet us, right?_

Feeling guilty, Misaki hit herself on the head, hard.

Ouch… She was starting to think like them. It must be a lot easier to win when the entire team was made up of oddly talented people, and here she was getting arrogant already in her first year as Manager…

Despite this, Misaki smiled to herself when she noticed Eikichi stretching his legs as the team returned. The Rakuzan team was full of oddballs, yes but she loved them like a family already. They were all so _cute_ in their own way.

Hayama with his boundless energy, Eikichi with his _downright stupid_ muscle power – and his way of trying to impress her with it every single time she observed him during training –, Mibuchi and his oddly girlish ways which were quite funny, the hardly noticed Mayuzumi with his li-noves, and Akashi with his personality.

Now she sounded like a mom with kids growing up.

The moment the team came over to her, Misaki hurriedly took the honey-soaked lemons, towels and sports drinks out from her bag. _Honey-soaked lemons…_ Satsuki would be proud of her. That hopeless cook should learn from her how to make her team actually not faint from her cooking.

As all the players took the items gratefully, Misaki noticed that a redhead was watching her with intelligent eyes, gazing at her thoughtfully. She couldn't help but blush slightly. Usually she didn't react whenever someone looked at her a little too hard, and just brushed it off.

Although Misaki portrayed herself as a fun-loving emotional girl to most people, she was trained by her family background and used to being cold and detached when she needed to be. Akashi was different and gave off a unique vibe which flustered her sometimes without her helping it.

People like Ki-kun she could stand and act normal around, hiding her feelings, but Akashi made her feel all fluttery. Not that she liked him or anything… Misaki bit her lip as her cheeks turned redder. The ex-Teikou Captain knew how to make her emotions spiral out of control so easily.

 _What was this feeling?_

Passing the things to him, Misaki gritted her teeth. _Come on, look at him right in the eyes!_ She did exactly that. Those multi-coloured heterochromatic eyes gazed back at her perfectly, perfectly beautiful, and made her heart do a little flip on its own.

Akashi Seijuurou, the Red Emperor. A little curve formed on his lips, startling her. He leaned close to her, still smiling a little, with those beautifully curved eyebrows, and those leaf-shaped _amazing_ eyes.

 _Akashi… Akashi…_

Misaki lowered her head a little so that he wouldn't see her face. She was just so bad at hiding her feelings in front of him. Was it just her, or did he actually smile a little more at her?

Urgh. Her own feelings were making her think strangely.

Akashi took a honey-soaked lemon out of her little lunchbox, and immediately bit into the fruit thirstily. Sighing contentedly, he looked at Misaki once more and suddenly put a hand on her pale, fragile-looking wrist holding the lunchbox. She almost moved away, eyes looking at him, her heart beating faster and faster.

 _What was he doing?_

 _He…_

 _He…_

"Thank you for the lemons, Misaki. The quality is much better than Satsuki's. I truly appreciate it."

He leaned in a little more, mixing his breath together with his. Self-consciously, Misaki tucked a stray hair behind her ear, hoping against hope that he didn't notice that small little action.

"Ne, Akashi-kun, what…?"

It was in an effort to divert his attention, and it failed hopelessly.

His eyes widened all the same, and was so close to her that she could hear that cute little breathing noise he made all the time through his slightly blocked nose. Akashi leaned even closer, smiling, with one hand still clutching the lemon, half-eaten and bitten into, and the other gently tugging at her wrist.

The both of them were in their very own little bubble of eternity again, alone, without anyone else.

 _Akashi… What did this mean?_

 _What was this feeling?_

"Akashi."

What?

"Just call me Akashi, Misaki. We've known each other for quite a period of time, and it's fine for you to address me without a suffix."

She was too stunned to nod.

And suddenly a mop of yellow hair appeared, bursting their bubble.

"Misaki-san! Urm… Ahhhh… Urm…"

The intruder faltered, seeing his captain and his manager so close together, like a scene from a shoujo manga, with Misaki's mouth hanging slightly open, Akashi looking amazingly gentle and regal at the same time.

 _Shit! Akashi's going to killlll me!_

The poor boy released a little gasp of shock and abruptly covered his mouth, looking even more embarrassed. The redhead released her, silently burning Hayama Kotaro up with that gaze of his.

If looks could kill, Hayama Kotarou would be six feet under. The latter gulped nervously. Oh no. He was going to be in _big_ trouble for interrupting his captain's vaguely romantic scene.

The last time he had tried to hug his manager and was berated by Akashi… He shivered and trembled. Misaki bit her lip hard with disappointment as Akashi moved away from her.

Was it just her, or did Akashi actually look irritated?

"Mi…Misaki-chan, when is our next match again? I kinda forgot…"

Hayama squirmed evidently, trembling under the gaze of Akashi.

 _Shiiitttt! I called her –chan!_

The fearsome captain looked even more furious now. Although it wasn't obvious and he appeared calm, his teammates and people around him would know otherwise. Misaki sighed. To think that he interrupted them with such a trivial matter.

Taking her thick booklet of dates and information from the brown bench behind her, Misaki sneaked a glance at Akashi. He continued looking at Hayama in a strange way that could only be described as fierce, and the poor boy only could squirm uncomfortably and hope that his punishment wouldn't be too severe.

Wait, did she just say that Hayama had _interrupted_ the both of them?

Misaki tried to clear her head, and failed miserably. Akashi and her weren't lovers or anything, and it was just fine that Hayama walked up to her to clarify stuff… But something at the back of her mind sighed.

 _Misaki, stop trying to trick yourself. You obviously like Akashi, that eccentric boy_.

She blushed even more furiously, if that was possible. Reading off from the thick booklet to the unfortunate Hayama who was still stammering out an apology, Misaki bent her face and it almost touched the paper as she burned with embarrassment while continuing to read with as much dignity she could muster.

She could still sense that infuriatingly calm boy looking at her, watching her movements. What was he trying to do? Why did he make her heart swing crazily into motion?

X

Akashi Seijuurou mopped his brow with the towel Misaki had given him, still panting as he watched the Rakuzan Manager explain some information to Kotarou. When he leaned close to her just now, he could smell her.

Fresh soap and nicely scented new tissue… A beautiful smell, and one that suited her nicely. He could still feel her breath on him, the touch of her delicate little wrist with soft skin…

He tried to clear his thoughts of her desperately, but couldn't get her out of his mind at _all_. That was entirely new to Akashi, a boy who found that winning came as naturally as breathing, that losing was unfanthomable.

It was like he was playing a game of shogi, and he was actually losing, the person capturing all his pieces, and still he felt somewhat happy about it.

If only he had known Imayoshi Misaki sooner, perhaps when they were in Teikou together. Pity that Aomine Daiki had gotten to know her first, and was her best friend along with Satsuki. Ryouta as well, and even Tetsu had practised with her countless times before. They all shared a deeper relationship with her than he had.

Akashi gritted his teeth at this. If he had known her sooner…

Maybe he would have a greater chance.

Maybe then his heart wouldn't be spinning so crazily, his personalities going haywire, and his emotions not so mixed up, not as confused by her personality. The way she made him feel was just… so new to him.

Others in school had talked about loving and caring about other people so easily, sometimes with a little blush, or with sparks in their eyes, forming just by talking about those special people. He had never understood them till now.

Even then, his emotions were far different from theirs. He didn't feel a rush of excitement or blushed whenever he saw or interacted with Imayoshi Misaki – instead he got all confused. They didn't talk a lot at all; they mostly just looked at each other and inwardly nodded with understanding.

Sort of friends in a way – what a queer and foreign word to him, Akashi Seijuurou, _friends_ – and Misaki was the person he talked to most.

That description was odd, but it accurately described their relationship. Misaki and Akashi didn't know each other that well on a personal basis, yet seemed to understand every single part of the other. Words were obsolete for the both of them, unnecessary.

But after all, he wasn't called the Red Emperor for nothing. He would capture her heart, take it, and make her fall for him so hard she wouldn't be able to leave him. And get her heart go totally haywire as well.

That single eye blended into red again after a bit of a struggle, watching that indigo-haired girl intently, watching, just observing her quietly, simply noticing the way she did things with silent authority and presence. She could tell that he was watching her, he knew. She noticed small little things like that.

He wasn't content just to watch her move, watch her and not interact her at all. He wanted to take action. But he was losing control again. That eye flickered back to gold, then to red, like a faulty television. Misaki could always be counted on to make him permanently confused, if possible.

He couldn't help feeling that way for her. She was just, well, different in every way possible. In front of others, he could act cold easily and be absolute. Always in control, never being questioned. But in front of her? It was much more difficult.

He kept lapsing back to his kinder self, always wanting to show her the better side of him, feeling the need to let her understand his true personality, even if she had shown signs of understanding it already.

And he still felt a sting whenever she talked about her brother's basketball or even simply Touou Gakuen.

That reminded him too much of that blue-haired ganguro which he wanted to strangle so badly for hurting her. The next time he saw him, he was going to have a talk with Daiki about it.

He couldn't understand how could he do that and leave her without feeling anything. She was like a delicate blossom hung on a thin stalk, and Aomine Daiki had been the one with the scissors to go and cut that stalk.

It was kind of ironic, in a way, that he utilised scissors all the time himself, and yet he thought of that bluenette as someone who broke Misaki with the very tool he liked to use.

That eye, once again, flickered and stayed the same.

X

"Tetsu!" Misaki smiled as she greeted Kuroko Tetsuya at the basketball gym, where the Touou and Kaijou players were currently doing warm-ups, still panting.

She had almost been late for the match, since the bus she wanted to catch left as she just arrived at the bus stop, and literally sprinted 300m to the gym from the nearest bus stop just to make it in time.

 _So tired…_ She glanced at the court intriguingly, sitting down next to her friend, not noticing the glares the Seirin players gave her, especially a redheaded Tiger who looked _pissed_ at her for some reason. Ignoring him, she dumped her stuff down and pulled out a familiar notebook and a pen.

"Tetsu, aren't you excited? Today's match will be one of the most –"

"Oi, who on earth are you! How do you know Kuroko, and why do you call him by his first name! Are you here to spy on us?!"

An angry-looking redhead in Seirin uniform sitting beside Tetsu leapt up from his seat abruptly burst into flames, only to be met by a pair of cool indigo eyes that seemed to be judging him silently. He immediately sat back down on his seat, turning red with embarrassment as even Tetsu continued to stare at him as well.

Misaki chuckled with amusement. That was one protective teammate. Why hadn't she seen him before, the day at the pool? He looked interesting…

She examined him closely, leaning a little forward, completely oblivious to the odd and outraged looks given to her by the Seirin team, studying his physique.

 _Power Forward. Likely a hotheaded kind of dude, naturally talented, a bit cocky…_

That reminded her too much of Aomine Daiki. Was this Tetsu's partner? He seemed exactly like the type he would work with. She smiled wryly. Why was it that Tetsu's partners were always the exact opposite of his character?

"Kagami-kun, don't shock Imayoshi-san away! She's Kuroko-kun's friend from Teikou. She visited the other day when you weren't here for practice. _Bakagami!_ "

The Seirin team almost doubled up in laughter at the nickname, with the exception of Tetsu, with Misaki struggling to hide a smile.

"Imayoshi-san, what are you doing here anyway? Come to cheer on your brother and Momoi-san?"

Aida Riko asked, her expression changing from cheerful to irritated at the last name, failing to hide her obvious dislike for the bubbly pink-haired Touou Manager. Kagami looked ready to jump into the air again, with a shocked expression plastered onto her face.

"BROTHER?! IMAYOSHI SHOUICHI IS YOUR BROTHER?!"

 _And here goes again…_

Misaki curbed the urge to roll her eyes as the aggressive tiger sat down and eyeballed her even more suspiciously than before – that is, if it was even possible – as the Seirin players looked ready to burst yet again, even Tetsu looked mildly amused for once.

She smiled despite the situation. They were a good team, united and strong. Even after losing recently – so she heard from Satsuki – they still were in good spirits watching Touou Gakuen play. Tetsu really made the right choice, huh.

He would be truly happy here, and so Satsuki needn't worry so much about "her" Tetsu. And the Tiger was ranting on and on about Shouichi, going up in smoke as he recalled the Touou Captain's behaviour. Which was kind of funny to watch in a way.

"May the match between Kaijou High School and Touou Academy begin!"

Misaki's attention was diverted back to the basketball court as the referee blew the whistle, and finally everything started. She leaned forward, wanting to have a good look at the players. Immediately recognising a mop of lemon hair, she tracked down Shouichi, Aomine and the others she recognised from Shouichi's photo.

The Kaijou boys were alien to her, having never met or seen them anywhere before.

Kise's captain was gruff-looking and seemed fierce, barking out orders, while there was a _really_ enthusiastic power forward who kept shouting and slapping his face for some reason, accompanied by a somewhat mild-looking boy who was evidently trying to calm him down before he went forward and did something stupid.

Misaki couldn't help but laugh at the sight. The Kaijou players seemed like a really nice basketball-loving bunch compared to the Touou guys. And she felt guilty for liking Kaijou more than her brother, Aomine and Satsuki's team…

But honestly, if she were to choose a team to join between the two, she would have chosen Kaijou in a heartbeat.

Then she watched as a tanned bluenette slouched casually, even yawning. Her heart sank, and she blinked repeatedly, trying not to show any emotion. Her neighbour glanced at her curiously, but didn't say anything, merely giving off an aura of concern.

X

The match started off with a bang, the Kaijou centre managing to nab the ball and pass it on to Kise, who dribbled across the court quickly, only to be stopped by an intimidating large figure. Yoshinori Susa eyed the centre cautiously, but didn't manage to block the yellow-haired small forward, who moved forward to the basket…

Misaki's eyes were practically glued to the match all the time, but at the same time furiously scribbling down notes about each player, with long descriptions.

As she scribbled on and on, Kuroko Tetsuya glanced at her notebook and carefully nudged the red-haired boy besides him, inducing a shriek of surprise, only to be shushed quietly by the shadow.

Kagami leaned towards the indigo-haired manager, watching in amazement with eyes getting rounder as the girl penned down long points about the players, frowning, making use of all the information she had.

Kuroko pinched his lips together. _Looks like Misaki was going to be a dangerous opponent._ He knew that Misaki had some analytical skill, but he never imagined that it was so advanced. Perhaps she had learnt from Momoi.

She managed to read the players' arm and leg strengths, approximated their heights… And Misaki had learnt all that simply by observing them, from a long distance away. If she was going to watch Seirin's matches, she was going to know each and every one of their statistics.

And she had already done so at the day of the pool practice. Rakuzan High was going to be even more monstrous, and even harder to beat.

Since he had stepped into Seirin, Misaki had never asked him once about his choice of school, but simply smiled when he told her about it and its style of basketball. They only met up once after graduation, and that was with Satsuki at the day of the pool training.

They barely exchanged any words, but Kuroko could sense the understanding in those beautiful indigo eyes. He appreciated Misaki understanding his point of view, and knowing exactly why he went to Seirin, an obscure new high school, instead of prestigious highs, when he could go to any school he wanted with his skills.

After all, she had experienced a similar kind of pain.

Kuroko understood Misaki's family background and her complicated relationships, and before Imayoshi Shouichi had changed he had been her pillar of support. Aomine's darkening made that wound bleed more and cut it deeper, leading to permanent scars on the girl.

Both of them were connected in an odd way, with the same miserable tragic things happening, with similar emotions flowing through their bodies. In a way Imayoshi Misaki understood him more than his old light.

 _How was he doing anyway?_

Probably, Imayoshi Shouichi was torturing him for making his sister cry. Misaki mentioned that she had told her brother about her change of emotions after much pressure from him, and he had been "furious", in her words, about it.

So Imayoshi could still be an aggressive overprotective older brother. He didn't seem like the type, especially after Kuroko faced him on the court. The third year was always making sarcastic comments, but when it came to his sister, he sure turned a hundred times scarier.

As the indigo-orbed manager observed intently, the Seirin players were whispering – very obviously and not very inconspicuously – and talking about her.

"Ne~ Do you think she and Kuroko are together? Misaki, Beautiful Blossom huh… Ah! Kuroko will use _flowery_ language to woo her if he likes her, maybe confess in a _beautiful garden_ somewhere romantic!"

Izuki proclaimed triumphantly, the others facepalming, sighing with annoyance. Izuki was just the _lamest_. Misaki couldn't help but chuckle after hearing his words, smiling and trying to hide it to avoid embarrassment.

"Nah, Kuroko won't like her. I'm guessing she's the _totally_ annoying immature type like Kise. All cheery and irritating. I bet Kise and her were or are together or something. She seems like his type. Pretty and slender."

Hyuuga yawned, quickly flicking his eyes over to her. Misaki blushed and hid her face even more, receiving a pat from Kuroko.

"Nope, her eyes are totally scary, mahn! Too fierce to be a happy-go-lucky idiot. I think Kuroko finds her motherly or something, cos she's always talking to him all concerned and sweet…"

Kagami mused, talking the loudest as Furihata besides him tried to quieten him down not to let Misaki know, and failing, only to get a glare from the tiger.

"She can hear you, you know…"

Kuroko stated almost nonchalantly, as the Seirin team turned bright red, Misaki giggling a little, confirming their worst fears. Riko huffed. She liked the Rakuzan Manager much more than that annoying Momoi Satsuki, but it was irritating to see the way she distracted all of them, especially Hyuuga.

Was she trying to get information out of them or something? After all, Kuroko-kun had mentioned that she was a good analyser…

Reading his kantoku's body language and stiff stance, Seirin's shadow smiled silently, turning the corners of his lips up a bit. Yes, Misaki was dangerous, but she was his friend. Besides, he knew a lot about Rakuzan too.

They weren't the only ones to put up a good fight.

Misaki was about to open her mouth and tell Tetsu to not embarrass his poor teammates, but her phone rang loudly. She received the call as quietly as possible, with the shadow looking at her curiously.

A familiar-sounding voice came out of the phone.

"Yes? Oh. Yes, I've observed a lot already… Yes, the match is going quite nicely but… Yes… What? Yeah, Hayama wants… Later I'll get it for them… _Yes,_ I know, I won't spoil them or anything, I'm not _that_ soft… Right, I'll come over now. _Gomen!_ "

Misaki turned her phone off before looking at Tetsu apologetically.

"Sorry, my friend from Rakuzan wants me to watch the match with him. Bye!"

Kuroko blinked. _Rakuzan… him…_ He turned behind and looked in the direction she was going.

Spotting a very familiar crop of red hair. And as he looked, a typical smile of his old captain formed. A smirk.

Then as he turned towards Misaki, it changed ever so slightly, but Kuroko noticed the change, and inwardly raised an eyebrow.

"Akashi-kun, sorry for making you wait. Urgh, my legs ache already…"

"It is fine. Lets watch the match together."

 _So he was here as well…_

Akashi Seijuurou. Always observing and analysing his opponents. Kuroko looked in that direction steadily with a certain expression, before turning around and continuing to watch the match. Looks like his old teammate was paying more attention to the game than expected.

X

[A/N]: Sorry, but since I'm really bad at describing basketball action, the match content wouldn't be as important as emotions here… Because if you haven't realised by now, I'm the type who focuses on feelings and drama but occasionally I write in the real-life details. If this story is too slow-burning or my writing style is starting to get onto your nerves because of the repetitions, please review or PM me to help me improve! Thanks for reading till here 3. I really appreciate it!

Seirin will not have a very strong presence because the main schools are Touou and Rakuzan, as you can probably tell. The story revolves around a Rakuzan student, so… Please tell me if you would like any comic relief/more emotional writing/anything in general so enhance the quality of the story! Shuutoku will be coming soon, and you can guess which particular pair will have hilarious moments together.

The other teams will come out soon in the next chapter, do not worry! The Kiseki no Sedai will kind of be coming out really slowly in a one-by-one kind of style (for most of them) throughout the story, and please comment if you would like them to meet Misaki faster. Also, there will be an introduction of two interesting teams that she will meet in the tournament, while watching it. Look out for it!


	7. Kaijou VS Touou

[A/N]: Please read and review! **AmayaKiyoshiRose, Twilight Dark Angel, start12345, restofourtimes, ArtemisFullmoon, Angel That Cant Fly** , **YatogamiKushina** , **chivini** and **Crystalline Amore,** thank you for adding this to your story subscription list! Some interesting people are going to appear here…

X

Misaki sighed as she looked at the scoreboard from the back of the gym. Other spectators in front of her kept chattering away and discussing the interesting outcome of the Kaijou and Touou Gakuen Basketball game.

Evidently, more female spectators were present because of a certain blonde Zunon model... And they had wanted Kaijou to win, of course. But still, they were awed by Touou Gakuen's strength, and had enjoyed the amazing game. And Misaki agreed.

As people prepared to leave, Misaki and the boy beside her were still silently watching the players as they shook hands and dried themselves, drinking gulps and gulps of water.

Her notebook was still in her palm, and she shut it suddenly as she stretched her back, her eyes still watching the players intently. Akashi Seijuurou glanced at her, with a faintly amused expression etched onto his face.

Misaki was evidently watching the expressions of the Kaijou players. Kise seemed happy, and was waving to all his fans – and getting kicked by his captain, of course – but she knew him better than that.

It was his first loss at nationwide competitions, and since he had played so hard against Aomine Daiki and had lost, well… Lets just say that the Kaijou team wasn't particularly excited. They knew that they had played a good game, no cheating, no fooling around either, but what irritated them was the Touou ace's laidback attitude.

That alone made them furious – that Touou's ace had beaten them so easily, and what infuriated Kise's senpais was that only with Kise's help, then they managed to do well against Touou.

But that was minor. And Misaki knew Kise must be feeling exceptionally bad then. Especially against Aomine, his long-time idol.

 _Aomine why are you wrecking lives again? Isn't mine enough?_

 _Ki-kun…_

"Misaki, you gathered data from the game right? May I see?"

"Okay, Akashi-kun, they're here… Don't you think the match was kind of sad? Touou totally dominated them, except maybe Kise."

"Rather. Kise is becoming quite powerful, but Touou… with Aomine they're much stronger as a whole. A problem."

They stood together in silence for a moment before Misaki couldn't help herself, and blurted her thoughts out loud.

 _Ki-kun…_

"Akashi-kun. I need to go first and talk to Kise. You can return to Rakuzan with the team first, or call them to know where exactly what they're doing. They're training at the gym I told them to go to, right? Thank you for staying here with me."

Politely bowing, Misaki met those multicoloured orbs of his. They seemed a little colder than usual, as if saying something. _But what?_ She might understand Akashi, but his thoughts were a complete mystery to her. After all, she couldn't mind-read.

"No. I would prefer to stay and wait for you. I would rather ensure that no one would harm you. Goodbye, Misaki."

The heterochromatic-eyed boy's fingers skimmed on her Rakuzan jacket, softly brushing against the fabric.

She instinctively flinched, and moved away a little.

"What is it, Misaki?"

Those eyes peered into the depths of her soul, as if they were analysing every little bit of her character, judging, evaluating…

'What do you mean? I didn't do anything…"

They seemed to gaze at her even more thoughtfully, both seemingly cruel and beautiful at the same time.

"You always flinch whenever others touch you, even if it is one of your close friends. When Tanaka Hoshimi patted your hair the other day, you visibly flinched. And furthermore, you could see her very clearly in front of you."

Misaki bit her lip. What was she supposed to say in return to something like that?

"Akashi-kun, this doesn't mean anything. It's just that I'm not used to – "

"You're afraid of developing long-lasting relationships, aren't you? Afraid of being hurt, once again. Like in middle school back then."

She drew in her breath, heart beating faster, hammering against her ribcage.

"In school, you never actually stick to one person or accompany a particular bunch of people, despite the fact that when you were in middle school, you hung around the basketballers a lot.

"You are fairly popular, I suppose. Others have approached you many times, but they have given up because you just seem disinterested. The fact remains that you just do not want to become to friendly with others, in fear that the same thing would – "

She couldn't take it anymore.

"Howcan _you_ judge like that?! You just don't know anything about me! Not at _all._ It doesn't mean that I don't have a clique like everyone else, or hang around the same bunch of people every day means that I _don't like making long lasting relationships_ and you have no right to say _anything_ about me, when you just _don't_ understand anything about me _._ "

Drawing in a deep breath, she looked at the heterochromatic-eyed boy before her, now silent.

Urgh. He was just being overbearing, irritating, and like everybody else, didn't understand her _one bit…_

So what if it was true? He didn't have to point out something like that right in front of her face. It was just downright rude, and made her feel almost naked mentally in front of him. He reminded her of a surgeon. Dissecting every single bit of her, _studying_ her… She couldn't stand it anymore.

Misaki hurried down the steps of the gym, trying to find her Kaijou friend. She spotted the Seirin team preparing to leave, hurriedly waved, and continued until she reached the preparation room for Kaijou High.

Rapping on the door incessantly, she waited impatiently until a boy with _really_ thick eyebrows and suspiciously wet eyes answered the door. It was the Point Guard and Captain of Kaijou, the one who had kicked Kise multiple times seemingly for no reason… Misaki stiffened at the thought of his emotions, all penned up until that moment.

"Hello. I am Kise's fr-"

Before she could say anything to justify herself, Kasamatsu Yukio started stammering for no reason.

"H-h-hi! Wh-who are y-you?"

He wheezed, sounding like an old man who had just smoked for a whole day without stopping, and Misaki could practically see sweat pouring out from his face, with his cheeks as red as apples.

 _Is he sick? Should I help him?_

"I'm Imayoshi Misaki. Kasamatsu-kun, are you okay?"

Misaki leaned closer to him, then took out her phone, typing in digits while peering closely at his face. Was he feverish? His face was turning even redder, like a tomato, and he was puffing even more now. Her earlier anger disappeared due to the concern she felt. Did he have respiratory problems or something? Ever studious, Misaki ran through the list of symptoms of cardiac arrest she had learnt from Biology classes in school, methodically checking them off as she observed Kasamatsu.

 _OHNO OHNO WHY IS SHE SO CLOSE TO ME WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME_

 _HOW THE HELL DOES SHE KNOW MY NAME_

 _SHE'S KIND OF PRETTY WHAT SHOULD I DO FRICK HOW DOES MORIYAMA HANDLE THIS ALL THE TIME_

 _HOW DOES KISE HANDLE ALL HIS FANGIRLS_

 _WHAT THE HELL WHAT THE-_

 _KASAMATSU GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER IT'S OKAY…_

And he had to start hyperventilating.

"Never mind Kise, I'll call him and see what he can do… Um, why are you hyperventilating?"

The Kaijou captain momentarily gained back his composure at the mention of his irritating kouhai, and straightened his back, not wanting to seem weak, before he looked hard at the girl in front of him and studied her.

She was just a little shorter than him and he considered her rather good-looking with sharp features, and because of that and the fact that Misaki was so near to her, he was going to start hyperventilating again because they were _definitely_ breathing the same air.

And he was _definitely_ not seeing her br-

He shouldn't have.

 _Really_ shouldn't have.

 _OHMY OHMY OHMY WHAT AM I SEEING_

 _OH IF I HAVE EVER DONE SOMETHING GOOD, HELP ME OH –_

"AH… uhhhhh… AHHHHH…"

Kasamatsu Yukio promptly fainted on the floor, with blood dripping out of his nose in a steady stream, and Misaki stared at him with widened eyes and a shocked face.

"Someone… Help? Kasamatsu-kun here collapsed…"

Vice-captain Kobori Kouji came out instantly after hearing a loud thump outside, sighing at the sight of a girl leaning over a familiar figure.

 _Why did this always happen when it came to girls?_

Misaki spotted him and tried pushing the captain across the floor, before deciding that it probably hurt his back and just let the vice-captain carry his body away, with an apologetic smile.

"It's okay, Kasamatsu is prone to collapsing."

Kobori lied, struggling to keep a straight face, what with Misaki's shocked expression and his friend's hilarious expression, stiffening up as he moved Kasamatsu over to inside the waiting room.

 _Kasamatsu, why does this always happen?_

 _Even after 3 years, you're not improving in your interaction with girls…_

Then Misaki facepalmed. Who was going to help her find Kise then?!

"Excuse me, can someone-"

A boy with bushy eyebrows answered, still slapping his cheeks red. It was the hyperactive, enthusiastic power forward slapping his cheeks earlier, Misaki recalled with a slight grin. _Hayakawa Mitsuhiro._

"H(EL)LO! WHO ARE YOU?!"

The boy answered loudly, eyeing her suspiciously, and he blew his nose loudly, eyes suspiciously wet again. Then Misaki decided to try a softer approach. She put on her best "kawaii desu" look and smiled at the brunette sweetly, even if it disgusted her on the inside.

After all, she could still act kawaii – whether intentionally or not – and all since her cheeks were still pinched regularly by her senpais in Rakuzan, though she was already fifteen…

 _Aren't you something, Misaki, trying to be an innocent little girl…_

Then she suddenly remembered her Rakuzan High jacket, and sneakily removed it from her shoulders and hid it behind her back.

"Urm… I am Ryouta's cousin! Can I go and see him? I miss him so much cos I haven't seen him in so long, and I love his basketball!"

Misaki made puppy eyes at the boy, who looked taken aback.

"AHHHH… KISE IS NOT HERE! I AM SO SORRY DO YOU WANT ME TO HELP YOU AHH ARE YOU OKAY YOU LOOK SO CUTE! HOW OLD ARE YOU-"

The Power Forward burst into speech animatedly and seemed even more distressed than before, eyes open wide, slapping his cheeks non-stop. Misaki stifled a giggle at the hilarious sight.

 _How odd could Kaijou's Power Forward get?_

"It's okay… I'm gonna find him myself! Bye!"

She disappeared, still laughing away in spite of herself. Then she thought of the golden-eyed player, thinned her lips and continued on her way, searching for him. Why were all the Kaijou boys so damn eccentric and weird?

She passed by a corridor, deserted and dark, with little lighting. Then as she gazed at a beam of sunshine from a window, she almost didn't spot a golden head of hair, shaking a little, almost camouflaging with the bright sunshine around it, but still standing out in the midst of the dark corridor.

 _Kise?_ Misaki ran up to the figure, her hair swishing, watching as the silhouette shook and trembled, leaning against the wall, quietly unfurling all his emotion. _Kise…_

"Ki-kun, are you…"

Misaki stopped as she watched the boy slowly turn towards her, evidently a little surprised, but was more focused on hiding his emotions from her as a little smile came onto his face. Obviously he wasn't fine at all. She was used to hiding her real emotions from her brother at times, so she could totally tell when others were doing the same.

 _Does he think I can't tell that smile is fake?_

"Misacchi… I'm okay. It's just that I'm a bit sad that I lost to Aominecchi, that's all."

He stated, still looking at her through his golden orbs, filled with sadness and despair, then turned away, trying to hide everything.

"Kise."

He faced her again, her face stormy and dark, almost angry.

"Do you think I can't tell that you're obviously _not_ okay?! Just. Pour it all out."

Misaki's expression softened. It wasn't pity, no, it was more of a sense of understanding.

"I'll be here, listening." Then she leaned against the wall and looked at the ground. Patiently. Waiting.

He started to tremble once again, shaking, then leaned against the wall, tears slowly trickling down his face.

Those beautiful eyes wet with tears, hands gripping the sides of the wall tightly, and looking at the ground with more emotion than he had ever felt before.

Those usually happy orbs turned dark golden, like liquid gold, with tears flowing out.

The indigo-haired companion simply watched him with tenderness and sadness, feelingfor him, feeling all that _pain_ after he lost the match.

She leaned closer to him, breathing the same air that he did, trying out _anything_ to help him.

"It's the first time I've actually lost in a proper match before. And Aomine…"

Misaki jolted. He wasn't using that regular suffix of –cchi anymore.

"He… I think that I still admire him. So I cannot win or hope to beat him. But… He…"

And before he could say anything, Kise leaned against her shoulder, tears still streaming down, quietly trembling.

And the both of them just stayed there, silently, without speaking, quietly comforting each other.

X

Misaki came out of the toilet, sighing and drying her hands, still thinking of a golden-haired boy. Evidently the loss had affected him and his teammates, since she had spotted some of his teammates' eyes filled with sadness and tears, still trying to hold back their feelings. Then before she could go anywhere else, her sharp eyes spotted a crop of green hair above an orange Shuutoku jacket.

Misaki grinned, eyes lighting up, before trying to recall his name as she ran up to him. What was it again? She hurriedly took out her notebook from her bag, flipping to the Shuutoku page. Ah. Midorima Shintarou. She _kept_ forgetting that name, no matter what she did.

"Midorima-kun!"

The boy turned around, using a single finger to adjust his glasses in a comical fashion, blinking in confusion repeatedly as Misaki ran up to him. _He doesn't recognise me at all, huh… Well, that's kind of expected_

"Do you remember who I am?"

She probed, slowing down and observing him, recalling her memory of him when he was in Teikou. _Grew a little taller, if that's possible, arm muscles more developed, legs still as skinny as ever…_

"No, but you do seem a little familiar. Do you happen to be Momoi's or Kuroko's friend?"

As she watched him, he seemed more and more like a carrot…

Misaki laughed and nodded her head.

"I'm Imayoshi Misaki, sister of Imayoshi Shouichi, the Touou Gakuen Captain. I was a friend of Aomine, Tetsu, Satsuki and Ki-kun. Do you remember me hanging out with you at the convenience store near Teikou? I was in basketball, second string! Did you come here to watch the match as well?"

Misaki babbled on, smiling. Midorima was still as awkward and stiff as ever. Her happy go lucky personality _always_ had to act up in front of such cute laughable, stoic people. In response, the Shuutoku shooter nodded reluctantly after a pause, pushing up his glasses again.

 _He looks so much like a carrot…_

She had to resist the urge to laugh.

"Yes. Sorry, but I do not remember you. So your brother knows Aomine, huh. He's his captain, right…"

Midorima was still clutching his lucky item of the day, a stuffed teddy bear which looked especially adorable. Misaki abruptly stopped the urge to laugh and nodded, eyes hiding pain from him.

"So is he able to control that savage creature?"

 _Savage creature? Is that… referring to Aomine?_

"Urm, if you're referring to him… He cannot get Aomine to practise, but yes, he can control him I suppose."

Their interaction was awkward, both of them barely knowing the other, and after that sentence they just watched each other not judgementally, but just observing each other.

"SHIN-CHAN! Where have you been? You just abandoned me like that. So heartless!"

Misaki turned around in surprise as yet another deredere appeared. It was Takao Kazunari, Point Guard of the Shuutoku basketball team. The black-haired boy thrust himself onto the lanky tsundere, crying as he lamented about his beloved 'Shin-chan leaving him alone'.

Just the type to be friends with the stoic shooter, Misaki mused. He _so_ reminded her of Kise, the two of them having personalities like adorable puppy dogs. If the two of them ever met… They could exchange pointers on how to annoy their stoic friends…

"Hello, Takao-kun. You are Midorima-kun's friend, right?"

Misaki bowed politely and smiled, as the floppy-haired Point Guard studied her curiously.

"Are you Shin-chan's GIRLFRIEND?"

Misaki burst into giggles at the same time as Takao, bending forward and laughing crazily, letting all her emotions out. From the corner of her eye she glanced at Midorima curiously, only to see the shooter yell angrily at his friend, and his face darkened.

"Wait, you… aren't?"

After recovering, Takao gasped for breath and looked at Misaki, still half-laughing. The girl shook her head quickly and grinned out of pure amusement.

"I'll never be his girlfriend, Takao-san! I barely know him now, and we're not even friends. I'm Imayoshi Misaki, an old schoolmate of Midorima-kun. I only saw him a few times before and I don't know him personally…"

Misaki facepalmed, leading to an annoyed burning stare directed at Takao once again from the shooter.

"Ne~ You were standing so close, I thought Shin-chan had finally opened his stone heart to someone besides me!"

Takao proclaimed, still studying Misaki and liking every little bit of the lighthearted girl.

Misaki was about to answer, when a silhouette appeared at the end of the corridor, almost seeming to beckon her away. Turning around and waving, she smiled apologetically, then bade goodbye, walking slowly away, and slipping out her notebook at the same time.

 _Takao Kazunari, huh. All his stats in my pocket now._

She knew she was being heartless, taking advantage of the situation, but all was fair in basketball tactics. Satsuki had taught her that.

X

Takao looked at Misaki's school jacket as she walked off and read the large neat print on it as the girl walked off, and his eyes widened, until they were the size of dinner plates.

 _RAKUZAN._

"Shin-chan… Misaki-chan is from… RAKUZAN HIGH SCHOOL?! That crazy strong basketball Kyoto school?! Why didn't you tell me?! And why didn't she join her brother in Touou Gakuen!?"

Takao shrieked, pulling on the orange Shuutoku jacket of Midorima's, almost crying.

"She could have given me basketball tips, you know! Mean Shin-chan!"

Midorima rolled his eyes and snapped, "Don't assume everyone from Rakuzan knows about basketball just like that! Besides, she wouldn't give you tips. She's from a rival school and won't want to help you, _baka._ "

"Shin-chan, who is she to you? She was from Teikou, right? Tell me all about her! She looks so interesting~"

Takao sang as he circled around his green-haired friend, grinning happily, teasing Midorima relentlessly. The latter pushed up his glasses and nodded reluctantly.

"Fine. She will be a dangerous opponent in competitions, so I might as well tell you in order to help our team."

"Imayoshi Misaki is a graduate of the Teikou Middle School Basketball Club, and her name is featured among the Hall of Fame for being one of the most successful players in the club, even though she is one of the rare girls who joined.

"She is a Sagittarius, her blood type is O, and she is naturally compatible with Sagittarius, Aries and Leo the most. Her lucky item for the day is a 15.5cm piece of red ribbon, nanodayo."

Midorima pushed up his glasses intellectually in an effort to look more convincing, while his friend pouted and smacked his head – with much effort needed to stand on his toes –.

"Shin-chan, I'm asking for her _history_ and who she knows, Midorim _aho_!"

The carrot-like teen pursed his lips together, folded his arms and nodded.

"Fine. But I will take a long time to explain."

"Imayoshi Misaki, as I said, was from Teikou Middle School and now in Rakuzan High. She was friends with Aomine Daiki, Momoi Satsuki – the Touou Manager –, Kuroko and Kise.

"Misaki basically knew the first string starting line-up and Kuroko exceptionally well although she was only in second string of the club, and often practised with Aomine and Kuroko before and after basketball practice.

"She is very clever, and won a Science scholarship to Rakuzan High, and led the Teikou second string team to first place as captain. Misaki is a very studious, hardworking and intelligent person who was successful in many programmes she participated in.

"I respect her intellect and sound logic deeply, especially since most of the basketball players around seem to have a lack of those valuable traits. Still, I did not and still do not approve of her annoyingly high spirits while doing anything."

Midorima paused to take a breath after his long speech, hoping against hope that his teammate would just stop asking annoying questions about a girl he didn't even know personally. Takao breathed deeply, with stars for eyes.

"Shin-chan, Misaki-chan sounds like a super awesome girl! I wanna know her even more now!"

"I knew you would, since she's almost the same kind of person you are. Very infuriating. However, Misaki is much more serious than you. She couldn't possibly have played well and won a scholarship without any effort. I admire her for her achievements, but I will not approve of her personality."

"So MEAN, Shin-chan! And you still didn't tell me about why she didn't join her brother in Touou Gakuen… Wouldn't she want to join her brother and friends?"

"Takao, I do not know why. You should ask someone like Kuroko for that. He is much closer to her than I am. Or perhaps Aomine Daiki, if you ever get to know him."

X

The Rakuzan basketball team captain and manager were preparing to leave the basketball gym to join their friends in celebrating their recent win. Before they left, Misaki looked behind her at the gym hesitantly, reluctant to leave, still thinking about what she had left behind in second and third year.

All those memories, and all the flashbacks came tumbling through her mind…

"Also…"

She bit her lip. She wasn't used to apologising or admitting that she was wrong in an outright way. Whenever Shouichi and her argued, they always just ended up silently warming up to each other again, with no apologies whatsoever. Body language was everything.

"Sorry for that outburst just now. I can be overly sensitive at times."

With a slight little smile, Akashi faced her and nodded his head.

"It's fine, Misaki. Perhaps I was a little too rough just now. I accept it."

 _So much like a king…_

"Akashi-kun, I think I left my phone in the gym. May I go and retrieve it? Also, may I go and talk to Satsuki for a little while for hints? I might be able to see some of the players and gather even more data."

Misaki blatantly lied, keeping a poker face and facing Akashi. It was kind of obvious – since her phone's oversized pouch was peeking out of her small pocket in her uniform – and Akashi wasn't the type to not notice even such trivial things.

That boy could see through every single little act of hers. But it was worth it to go back and see him again, even if the redhead would be irritated at her. And even if he knew that she was trying to trick him, Misaki somehow knew that he wouldn't be annoyed. Akashi would let her go.

"Fine. Please do hurry though."

Akashi motioned for her to go with a flick of his wrist as expected, and Misaki hurried on gratefully, rushing towards the gym again, her heart beating faster and faster.

Then she spotted a pink-haired girl engaged in active conversation with a brunette in a Touou basketball jersey, the girl gesturing animatedly and talking _super_ loudly about something while the boy beside her just kept nodding his head and bowing for some reason.

 _Ryou Sakurai, probably, the boy I saw in Shouichi's photo…_ Then where was the rest of the Touou team?

 _Data, data, I need more data…_

But first she had to do something more important.

Misaki quickly sped up and ran towards Satsuki, eyes bright and the wind blowing her flowy hair gently, the silky strands flying through the air. She needed to know where he was, so she could fix everything that had gone wrong since _that_ day.

It was sort of cruelly coincidental. The day that he had left her alone and hopeless? That was exactly a week after his birthday.

"Mi-chan! Ryou-kun, meet Imayoshi Misaki, sister of Imayoshi-kun! Aren't you surprised?"

Misaki raised an eyebrow as Satsuki introduced Ryou Sakurai, with big puppy eyes, to her, acting as if one of her basketball players were a six-year old. In response, the boy gazed at her stupefied, before suddenly bowing down and apologising for no reason at all.

"S-sorry! I don't mean to be so annoying. Do you wish for me to leave?"

And Misaki's jaw dropped, dropped until it comfortably rested on the floor.

Why was he apologising…

"Ryou-kun, what do you mean? Don't apologise, nothing's your fault. And Satsuki, stop petting him like that!"

The pink-haired Touou manager just hugged her disgruntled friend, and smiled cheerfully.

"Eh, Mi-chan, why did you suddenly come looking for us? I thought you left already. Imayoshi-kun was looking for you."

Misaki bit her lip hard. She wanted to see her and the Touou team, but it was going to be way too… urgh, she must as well tell Satsuki now.

 _Get it over and done with, idiot! Or else you'll never get to return back to the old times._

"Ah… Well, I wanted to see you actually…"

Misaki scratched her head awkwardly, and watched as Satsuki's expression changed from cheery to concerned. As far as she knew, whenever she requested to see Satsuki, it was always about something bad, and most of the time they discussed a certain navy-haired old Teikou ace.

The two girls had very limited time together, and since they met up once a week or less, when they managed to talk to each other, their topics were always of some purpose. And Misaki knew that Satsuki was concerned about her childhood friend, and the pink-haired manager also knew that she was equally anxious about him. That was the main reason why Satsuki had followed Aomine to Touou Gakuen instead of going together with Tetsu to Seirin.

Whenever Satsuki watched Seirin in action and see them enjoy playing basketball together, with teamwork and friendship, Misaki could sense that she almost regretted following Aomine, when instead she could have worked together with Riko in order to help Seirin succeed.

Satsuki was frustrated with herself, angry that she hadn't gotten the chance to do something greater other than ensuring the welfare and success of basketball teams.

Misaki understood that she wanted something greater, a sense of harmony and unity, just like in the Teikou basketball team in the old days when all of them were still together happily without changing in the least bit for the worst…

Seirin High was one of those schools which still had a basketball team who loved the sport together and played it _together_ , not individually.

 _Aomine, when will you realise how much Satsuki has sacrificed for you?_

Satsuki was friends with Aomine for so long, and she had kept following him everywhere, just to prevent any stupid escapades that he might make.

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Two girls stood in the February cold together, shivering and drinking hot chocolate together at a café. Misaki frowned at her friend, alternately talking and sipping her hot drink._

" _Satsuki, you've sacrificed way too much already."_

 _Someone should just tell Aomine how much Satsuki did for him._

" _Satsuki, why didn't you go live your life the way you want to, and go with Tetsu? You'll miss him so badly if you go to Touou."_

" _But Mi-chan, I need to keep an eye on Dai-chan. Who knows what he'll do if I'm not there to keep him in line. Tetsu can do without me. I'll miss him, but Dai-chan's more important than my feelings. I'll miss him anyway, if I don't follow him. Just don't tell him that I said that, okay?"_

 _Satsuki…_

 _FLASHBACK END_

X

[A/N]: Yet another sort of deep ending here… Sorry if this chapter is a bit muddled, cos there were many players introduced here. Takao and Midorima together are so cute! And of course, the ever funny Kaijou basketball team.


	8. Powerhouse Schools

[A/N]: Thank you **ailinliang0** and **xHopeGurlx** for adding this to your story subscription list! This chapter might seem a little repetitive but it's not really a repeat of anything so far, as it's more personal and such. Please read and review in order to improve my writing style or give any comments you have about this story!

X

"Satsuki."

The seriousness of her tone surprised Momoi Satsuki, causing her to tilt her head upwards questioningly to face her indigo-haired friend. Although Misaki was only a few centimetres taller than her, she still had an intimidating presence if she wanted to, making her seem as if twenty centimetres taller than usual.

 _Is it just me, or is Mi-chan becoming more serious ever since she entered Rakuzan?_

 _And she reminds me of someone I know…_

"Mi-chan? Is it…"

She bit her tongue. It was going to be about Dai-chan again. Misaki criticised her for following her childhood friend to Touou Gakuen instead of pursuing her own path, or going to Seirin together with Tetsu. Yet she worried about that baka as much as her.

She was always concerned about him, quietly. When no one noticed, she would go and question Satsuki about his behaviour, his attitude, _whatever_ he was doing. But when she did that, Satsuki could see the pain in her eyes, hidden behind a cold confident gaze that she usually sported, whenever she didn't want others to see her true emotions.

They really knew each other too well to hide anything.

Momoi admired her friend for not giving up for so long, for silently trying to change Dai-chan. And the baka didn't even show any sign of caring about how she was doing! Dai-chan was just like that. Almost like a tsundere.

But no matter what she did, Dai-chan wouldn't budge. She had tried every trick in the book already. She just wanted to go along with the flow and help her friend in his basketball and enable Touou Gakuen to get better in the sport.

Misaki was just stubbornly persistent like that. The two old best friends obviously liked each other in a way that was greater than friendship – hints of romance here and there – but they hadn't gotten together yet. Which frustrated Momoi so much.

Maybe if they had been together, things would have turned out differently.

"Satsuki… Shouichi.

"Is he… Okay?"

Okay, _that_ was unexpected. The ganguro immediately flew out of Momoi's head and she silently reprimanded herself for thinking that Mi-chan was concerned about her childhood friend.

 _Mi-chan isn't thinking about Dai-chan all the time, you know…_

"Just his usual self, Mi-chan. But he's getting a bit more sarcastic towards Dai-chan and Ryou-kun lately. Maybe it's nerves of playing Rakuzan soon or something."

Momoi mindlessly spat out, knowing that it wasn't the real reason why her friend's brother was acting that way. Touou would only be playing Rakuzan after a few more matches, and it was a few weeks away. They might not even play them in the first place if they met other challenging schools before the finals.

Misaki lowered her head to the ground, letting out a despairing sigh.

"Satsuki… What do you think of Shouichi?"

For some reason, her friend never called her brother by any affectionate terms, just his plain first name. And the Touou Captain always referred to her by the same style as well. It seemed funny that Misaki's friends called Misaki more affectionately than her own brother.

Well, the Imayoshi family had a complicated background, anyway.

"He's always grinning for some weird reason, squinting strangely, saying that Dai-chan is super strong and doesn't need to practise, just his usual self."

Momoi could tell that this wasn't what Misaki liked about her brother. True, Imayoshi Shouichi of Touou was attractive in his own way and quite okay compared to Dai-chan for most people, personality-wise. But his younger sister didn't think so.

It really must be weird having your older brother, who was stereotypically supposed to protect you from dangers and whatnot, to be a sarcastic, squinty and constantly snickering teenager.

Even Dai-chan would make a more natural brother than him.

"Satsuki. I'm going to sound like I'm repeating the same thing, but…"

Her friend's face darkened.

"Tell him when we meet him at the Interhigh Finals, don't go easy on us. And tell him to use every trick he has to defeat Rakuzan.

Most importantly, tell him not to look down on whoever's facing him."

Just like that, Misaki lifted her head up and smiled a twisty smile at her. On the surface happy, but internally sad. Then left, her hair swaying in the wind

Momoi frowned. Imayoshi typically didn't look down on anyone, although he was quite arrogant sometimes when facing an opponent he didn't deem worthy of facing.

But won't his mark be Akashi Seijuurou, the number one Point Guard in the middle school basketball circuit?

 _What did she mean?_

X

Misaki stared hard at the schedule of opponents that they were going to play. Only two more matches before Yousen High. She sighed in exhaustion, placing her palm to her forehead, wondering if she had gotten a fever or something.

All this brainwork and mental stress was making her _so_ tired.

She sat in a train that would bring the Rakuzan team back to Kyoto for school again the next day, yawning away non-stop as the players chatted away excitedly in the background. She didn't understand how they all still had energy to talk so much, even after playing a match and spectating a heart-stopping Kaijou vs Touou game.

When Misaki got back, she needed to start on her homework straightaway. Unluckily, her annoying Biology teacher had asked the class to look up on some random organisms and do a report for that a week ago, and Misaki had procrastinated, and the frigging deadline was the _next day._ So she had to do research on Yousen and prepare a new training schedule in order to face them – last minute but essential – _and_ catch up with schoolwork.

She checked her watch, groaning in despair. It was already 6pm, and by the time they got back, ate dinner and showered it would be 8+ already.

 _Oh, gosh._

 _The players should by right be more tired than me… But why is it that I'm so exhausted?!_

Being manager was so exhausting.

And out of the corner of her eye she noticed Akashi making a movement, and he slid into the seat next to her, eyes on her almost ruthlessly.

"Are you tired, Misaki?"

Those sharp heterochromatic eyes radiated an odd emotion, and Misaki nodded her head, mouth opening again to yawn.

"Lean on me."

 _That_ caught her attention immediately. She turned her head in order to look at him carefully, and his lips were upturned in a curved little smile.

"Akashi-kun… That would tire you out. I prefer not to. I am honestly fine. Thank you, though."

Misaki assumed a calm demeanour again, but her insides were all messed up.

 _What did he mean by that?_

The redhead's smile drooped down, and he continued staring at her a little more sharply now.

"Misaki, that was a command, not a question. Please do so, as evidently you are tired."

"Mou, Akashi-kun, no. I don't want to inconvenience you and if I manage to sleep through all the way the team might have to carry me, which would be irritating for you."

His lips curled slightly as his eyes narrowed, seemingly studying her.

Then abruptly he pushed her body against his gently without any brute force, saying, "Interesting. Do as I say."

She bit her lips as she obeyed him, body sliding as she leaned on him somewhat awkwardly. She vowed not to get comfortable or anything to suggest that she actually _liked_ doing it, but she couldn't help closing her eyes as her head snuggled against the soft fabric of Akashi's Rakuzan uniform.

She could feel his palm touching her head almost gently, as she lifted her eyelids, looking at him wondrously, long lashes almost seemingly touching her cheeks.

He looked slightly different. With a slight gleam in his eyes, his cheeks a little flushed, but still composed and calm. Why was it that Akashi always looked so good effortlessly, when her hair got messed up about an hour after every time she tied it up neatly?

His smile was back, as he softly prodded her head, eyes meeting hers.

"Misaki, please sleep. You are tired."

"Alright, Akashi-kun. Thank you."

"Call me Akashi. We are in the same year and are deskmates."

"Thank you, … Akashi?"

"Do not thank me. You need this."

And just like that, she shut her eyes again, as Akashi shifted his body slightly until she could hear the beating of his heart through the thin fabric of his uniform. Against his chest, her head nodded with the rhythm of his heart and the swaying of the train.

She had never felt this soothing before, never felt as safe and secure, with her head resting against Akashi's body, slowly rocking back and forth, hearing that cute sound he made whenever he exhaled through his nose, feeling the steady thumping of his heart through his uniform.

As she got comfortable, she was nodding off. Still aware of the fact that her head was pressed against the chest of the Rakuzan Captain, and nobody around them seemed to notice anything. It was cringe-worthy, but she currently enjoyed it a lot.

 _Maybe it isn't so awkward anymore. Akashi really is good company._

Just about to start sleeping like the dead, she heard a soft whisper from her ear.

"Misaki, I shall meet you at your dormitory later at about 9pm. Please do not be late, and do not forget."

 _Wh-what?_

 _Was this all part of a dream?_

 _Why…?_

X

Misaki peered at the door hopefully and checked the clock once again, clicking her tongue in impatience.

 _8.59pm._

Trust Akashi to be exactly on time, not too early.

Misaki huffed with irritation at herself. How could she be waiting in anticipation for his arrival? It was not like he was going to help her or anything. The best he would do was to interrupt her schoolwork and cause her to stay awake for another 15 minutes or so trying to cram everything for her upcoming test.

Then in the midst of her thought, she heard a soft tapping at her door. The clock chimed nine times. Perfect timing.

She sprang from her chair, opening the door and smiling at the red-haired Rakuzan captain in front of her, her breath almost being blown away.

He looked even better than before if that was even possible.

Dressed in a casual shirt and wearing white long pants, he looked like he was about to go out or something. Akashi _never_ went out. And why did he have to dress up so nicely?

Misaki almost blushed. This was for her, in order to see her.

 _No, stop thinking rubbish! Akashi merely wants too look presentable, unlike you who doesn't care much about your appearance!_

He entered her room carefully, observing the things around him, Misaki looking around as well and hoping that there wouldn't be anything embarrassing to see.

The only personal items on display were a photograph of her old Teikou Basketball Second String teammates, and a small bear that they had signed on for her. At first, there used to be a picture of her _other_ Teikou friends in the first string, but Misaki had taken it down.

It reminded her too much of the past, and what they used to be. She rather not look at that picture every day and let her thoughts wander, making her broken heart even more shattered.

Misaki propped her elbows up on her table as Akashi slid onto a stool besides her, eyeing the contents of her table. Her cheeks turned red.

It was covered in last-minute schoolwork and her laptop, which had the Yousen basketball team's photo on its screen accompanied by some minor details about their middle school and background. Her basketball notebook was lying beside it, tilted and scribbled on neatly with her handwriting.

 _Akashi seems like such a tidy worker, and yet he's seeing all this mess…!_

Thankfully, Akashi just smiled in amusement at the state of her work table. "Anyway, Misaki, I wanted to find you exactly because of this. You are obviously overworking yourself just by working hard for the basketball team and juggling homework at the same time. Some tests are coming up, and grades are essential.

"I propose to lighten your workload by accompanying you to the library during lunch or after basketball practice in order to discuss strategies together. In this way, you can get to understand a little more about basketball with me and we will be much more productive in our efforts.

"Is that alright, Misaki?"

She held her breath, gazing at him once more. It might seem a little creepy, but she liked to look at Akashi's eyes. They were dazzling, beautiful, incredible, with those golden and red orbs, seemingly piercing, but with some emotion… And he was looking back at hers, focusing on her orbs, equally intense.

Before she could lose herself, she snapped back to focus and smiled at him.

"Yes. Thank you so much, Akashi."

Then he got up and left, still holding that gaze of his, two pairs of eyes staring at each other, wondrously. And he opened before shutting the door, leaving her staring at the door even after he had gone.

 _Why did Akashi Seijuurou make her heart swirl like this?_

 _Was she… Liking him?_

 _And did he even like her back?_

Misaki grunted, her head in her hands as her mind was filled with confusion and conflicting emotions.

That damned red-haired boy made her emotions turn topsy-turvy.

The frightening bit was that it was for no reason at all.

She silently scolded herself as she drew open her curtains and gazed at the beautiful night sky. Dark, mysterious and full of stars twinkling at her. Exactly what fitted a certain old friend of hers.

Misaki wasn't the type to think about the opposite gender for hours and mope about her crush or anything – since she could hang out with hers daily two years back – but now it was different. She facepalmed herself and cursed her _miserable_ life.

 _Why were all the people she liked so far away from her?_

 _And why was everyone doing this to her heart?_

She really couldn't bear to suffer again, to have her heart all crumbling down and in ruins…

Then her phone rang. She picked it up, and was surprised to hear a soft voice at the other end.

"Misaki-san? Do you need help? You requested for me to assist you, remember?"

"Sorry to bother you so late. You know the Yousen players pretty well, right? Well, at lest two of them."

"Yes. Murasakibara Atsushi, my teammate in Teikou, and Himuro Tatsuya. Well, the latter has a complicated relationship with one of my current teammates…"

X

Match after match was played and won. The next opponent that Rakuzan was facing would be Yousen High. And Akashi had made an extremely surprising announcement.

"From now on, I will not be playing for Rakuzan in the Interhigh. Neither will Aomine Daiki from Touou or Murasakibara Atsushi from Yousen, the other members of the Generation of Miracles. This is to ensure a fairer and perhaps more exciting fight.

"However, this will not alter the outcome of our game. I merely do so just to make the matches more… lively. With me and them playing, it would be extremely boring as the outcome would be even more certain than before. Thus, there is no reason to be anxious. Simply carry on as you did before.

"Misaki will help to guide you. She knows the other players all too well. Please seek her assistance, as she is a valuable tool."

Misaki simply blushed a little at the compliment and couldn't help smiling a little. She had known all about Akashi's plan all along, and had even warned Satsuki about it. Aomine would have told her already.

At that time, Aomine didn't even know that Akashi was going to do so. But Akashi had been confident and as expected, Murasakibara and Aomine agreed to his plan, with a little grumbling on the ganguro's side.

Apparently – according to Tetsu who had helped her a little in her research – Murasakibara always obeyed Akashi-kun no matter what happened. Understandable, given the redhead's strong and commanding presence, but a bit unnecessary. Totally unlike Aomine.

In response, the Rakuzan players just nodded and Hayama Kotaro even winked and grinned at her, prompting a small little grin back in his direction. They were so well-behaved for a team led by someone younger than them that it was almost eerie. But their first-year captain was capable and could make anyone obey him, so – why not?

Without Akashi in the match, things would be a bit tougher, but not that much. After all, the other prominent players would be absent and that would level the playing field quite a lot. However, Rakuzan still had the 3 Uncrowned Kings.

They would secure Rakuzan's victory, once again. Misaki smiled as she looked at a familiar name in her notebook, with a small smileyface drawn next to it. Then she flipped to the page at the very front, stating the names of all the players, coaches and managers.

 _Nee-chan, I can't wait._

 _Fat Momo, same goes for you too._

Then she looked at the Touou Number 5 and sighed.

They wouldn't be able to play against _him_ , unfortunately. She had so badly wanted to let him know what defeat tasted like. Not that she was a sadist, but she wanted to let him see how it felt like to be on the losing end, for once. Maybe then he would learn.

She tossed her notebook aside, starting to watch the game and welcome Kantoku to sit beside her and discuss some logistics, but her mind was wandering as the grey-haired man droned on and on about monetary matters, and she failed to pay attention no matter how much she tried to give some respect.

 _Tetsu, it'll be your job to do that, then._

 _You'll be playing them first. Show them what you can do in the next tournament on the court._

The faces of the Yousen basketball club players flashed through her mind. Misaki methodically repeated their names in her head, and stopped when she came to a particular one.

 _Himuro Tatsuya. Yousen High Second Year. Shooting Guard._

Kuroko had mentioned something interesting about him having a special relationship with that tiger-ish partner of his.

She recalled a photo of him, with hair covering one eye almost mysteriously, and his face plastered with a kind of superior smile, which caused a sort of fan club to form around him, fangirling his 'mysterious sexy aura'. In comparison, his friend Murasakibara Atsushi was like an overgrown child, forever munching on sweets and goodies, and being fed by his friend.

Both players were immensely strong in basketball, and Himuro Tatsuya was supposed to have trained in America together with Kagami Taiga under the guidance of an ex basketball pro. He had polished skills, and was almost at the level of the Generation of Miracles…

Yousen was an interesting team, with a captain with a squarish unattractive face, a Chinese transfer student, a 'hot' boy with many fangirls, an overgrown child. And Rakuzan was going to face them in their next match.

And Kantoku left her sitting on the bench, gazing at the Rakuzan team who was doing their warm-ups, pumped up about facing their most challenging opponent yet for the Interhigh. As usual, Hayama seemed to be grinning hugely and attempting to talk to Mibuchi, who sniffed haughtily and told Hayama loudly that it was "basic etiquette to let a lady have her own personal space".

Eikichi was flexing his stupidly oversized muscles _again_ , with some second stringers gaping at him enviously and Mayuzumi somehow couldn't be spotted, with Akashi doing everything with an air of confidence.

Misaki smiled at the team fondly. They might not be her ideal team which emphasised teamwork and all those values that the Teikou first string had disposed of in second year, but they were incredible. She was glad that she was their manager.

They were going to win the Interhigh even more grandly than they did last year with her help, hopefully. Even if the Kiseki no Sedai weren't going to play in the final matches, it was going to be a _blast._

But Rakuzan wasn't going to be the only team gearing up for the Interhigh.

X

 **SEIRIN**

"We're not going to be able to spectate the matches between Yousen, Touou and Rakuzan as we shall focus on training. Touou will probably come out at the top, what with Aomine Daiki. Kuroko, please inform us as soon as possible on the results. Results from friends come much faster than the official ones."

Aida Riko huffed and glared at her team, thereby instructing them to start doing their warm-ups for the day. Kuroko looked at Kagami meaningfully. Although Coach had mentioned that Touou would win, he knew better. Another powerhouse school had 3 Uncrowned Kings, a ruthless ex-Teikou captain and a brilliant strategist.

Seirin was going to get a shock.

 **KAIJOU**

"Oi, Kise!" Kasamatsu Yukio yelled at his first-year teammate and kicked him in the face, causing the latter to yelp in pain and tenderly pat his face. "What are you thinking about again?! If it's fangirls, I'll kick you _all_ the way to the moon! If you think this kick was hard, you better prepare yourself!"

The blonde smiled apologetically at his senpai before explaining.

"You see, Misacchi and Akashicchi are in Rakuzan and they're going to play~~~" That'll be so interesting! I wish them luck in their matches~~~" Then he got kicked yet again by Kasamatsu, who was fuming.

"Misacchi…?"

Then Kasamatsu remembered a particular indigo-haired girl wearing a Rakuzan uniform standing outside the Kaijou waiting room after that devastating match. From what he remembered, her name was… Misaki…?

"Wait… Does this girl have indigo shoulder-length hair, and is kind of… short compared to normal basketball players?"

"Ne~ Senpai-cchi, you sound as if you've seen Misacchi before!"

Kasamatsu wanted to faint. That was the reason why Kobori Kouji had to carry him back inside to get first aid and why Moriyama had laughed at him for weeks even harder than usual for his long time inability to talk to girls. She basically witnessed one of his most embarrassing moments in life the first time she met him.

"Misacchi has a really complicated background. She played basketball in Teikou second string, and basically was my sort-of coach when I first joined in second year, similar to Kurokocchi as she was super strict and mean…" Kise sighed as he recalled the brutal training sessions she gave him.

"Honestly, I didn't like her much as first, but when I found out that she was a kind of person who hid their feelings, I liked her instantly! Misacchi was so kawaii… Anyway, though she's short for a player, she's skilled and was the captain last year who led her team to victory, even though technically it was a boys' team.

"I mean, I was so surprised that my coach was a girl, ssu~ I looked down on her, but she wasn't the only girl who was allowed to play for a boys' team for no good reason. She's really really good, Senpai… Also, she was Aominecchi's best friend and the both of them obviously liked each other so much."

He rolled his eyes as he remembered the evident blushes and strange looks they gave each other all the time.

"But they broke apart when Aominecchi grew cold and beastly, and he was the first one in the Generation of Miracles to do so. So… Now she's Rakuzan's manager! And the sister of Imayoshi Shouichi, the Touou captain~"

Kise squealed almost girlishly and hugged his own body at the thought of the siblings meeting at the court.

"This is Kaijou, not Rakuzan! Focus on the game and our current situation, dumbass! We have to get ready for the Winter Cup."

Despite saying so, Kasamatsu was slightly interested in this Imayoshi Misaki.

 _All that history with Kise and the Generation of Miracles… Interesting girl._

 **SHUUTOKU**

"Shin-chan! Don't you wanna go and see Mi-chan's matches?"

Takao Kazunari whined as he looked at his phone, typing away at full speed as he chatted with his stoic green-haired friend. Ever since he had met her outside the toilets, he had taken an unusual interest in the Rakuzan manager.

"Her matches will likely be far away in Kyoto or some other distant region, Takao. Besides, I do not know her personally, and as I have explained before, she was the others' friend, not mine. Why should I go?"

Midorima pushed up his glasses, irritated with Takao's frequent questioning. Lately he had been asking a lot about Misaki and her history in Teikou. As if he would know that much about her, a mere acquaintance! Besides, Misaki reminded him of annoying Kise and Takao. He didn't need yet another noisy, loud, immature person in his life.

"But Shin-chan, she says her match is in nearby…"

"Screw that, Takao. I already told you…"

Midorima glanced at Takao's phone and froze immediately, with a horrified expression on his typically stoic face, which Takao unfortunately noticed. The raven-head was messaging someone, and was smiling a little too hugely. He read the name on the top, with added cute faces.

 _Mi-chan (Shin-chan's GIRLFRIEND) v XDDD ^_^ 3_

"Ne, Shin-chan, don't be jealous. I just sneaked a peek at your phone for her number, thank goodness I have a good memory… Chill, Shin-chan, it's not like I'm dating her! Haha, Shin-chan, you're jealous of me befriending your girlfriend. At least you have _some_ feeling for her, no matter how little you admit it."

"TAKAO…!"

 **TOUOU**

A ganguro and a big-chested peach-haired girl were sitting together on the balcony, the latter nagging her childhood friend about something-or-other, while Aomine just nodded and yawned, wanting Satsuki to stop. He just wanted to drift off and sleep, maybe wake up to read Horikita Mai-chan once in a while…

But as Satsuki droned on and on about Seirin's importance and the Interhigh practices, he found himself thinking of a particular girl from Teikou, who had recently gotten to know his old captain.

A beautiful smile came into his mind, and he quickly brushed it off before he started getting sentimental.

"You won't be playing, right? Imayoshi's so annoyed! But he thinks that we'll be better facing Rakuzan knowing that we aren't going to…"

"Shut up Satsuki, for _once_. I need to rest."

He gazed at the sky, letting old memories slip back into his mind. Rakuzan was going to open some very raw wounds that were closed long long time ago.

 _Thank you for the memories, but I'm afraid that I would have to discard them temporarily._

 _I'm sorry, but I can't afford to have these feelings._

 **YOUSEN**

"Atsushi, do you know anything about this manager, Imayoshi Misaki? She went with you to Teikou, remember?"

Himuro Tatsuya was busy trying to talk to his tall friend as Murasakibara Atsushi chewed on grape-flavoured gum for five minutes straight before replying.

"Ah, this flavour's pretty refreshing… Anyway, Muro-chin, you know I didn't know her well. Ask Sa-chin, Mine-chin, Kuro-chin or even Ki-chin if you want to know. I'm not playing, remember. Even if I am, Aka-chin cannot be opposed and cannot lose. His team as well."

Himuro almost wanted to smack him. This old captain of his really knew how to make Atsushi knuckle down and obey him to the extent that it was utterly unnatural. Almost creepy, in fact. Who would unquestioningly do anything that someone else had asked?

This Akashi was another thing altogether.

Anyway, who the heck were those people he mentioned? Nicknames that Atsushi gave were no help.

"Atsushi, you do know that I have no idea who these people are, right…"

X

[A/N]: This part is focused more on the present and not so much on the Teikou aspect for once. I'm making a greater effort to incorporate fluff between Akashi and Misaki, as I believe since this story is not all about basketball matches' content, it should have emotional stuff as well! The introductions of the other highs' characters are also here for a wider perspective of what everyone is thinking.


	9. Second Year

[A/N]: Thank you **ToxicQuicksilver** for adding this to your story subscription list! Thank you for the review, **Guest**! It made me feel warm inside . This is another flashback chapter, but more emotional and focused on Misaki's school life. I've been a little vague about her Teikou past, so hopefully this will help to clarify. Since I'm going to get slightly busy after I publish this, I decided to speed up and publish this chapter earlier. Please read and review!

 **X**

 **TEIKOU MIDDLE SCHOOL SECOND YEAR, APRIL.**

Aomine Daiki and Imayoshi Misaki were practising furiously in one spare basketball gym that was a little deserted, not being used by many people. That was the reason why they even went there in the first place. They needed a quiet place to focus on practice and play their best without any interruption.

They had discovered the gym together with the help of a certain bluenette, actually. At first they hadn't dared to go in there, because people thought the gym was haunted and there was a ghost there lurking about.

But when Misaki and Aomine went to check it out, they got the shock of their lives hearing a ball bounce about and almost fled, but realised that it was in fact Tetsu. So as easily as that, the three became friends and started practising together.

Misaki was kind of closer to those two than her friends in second string, despite practising more with the second stringers and seeing them more frequently in basketball practice. Perhaps it was because outside of formal training hours, one didn't have constant pressure to perform and get into the team by proving your ability.

It was often said that Aomine and Tetsu were the most hardworking of the team, and the ones who had the strongest passion for basketball. But people had forgotten about a small-sized second string girl who practised with them as well, and was their extraordinary friend.

Not that she wanted to be recognised like that, anyway. She simply practised because of her love for the game, the want to get better and the fact that she enjoyed the company that practised with her.

One was a quiet nice boy who probably was the humblest and the hardest worker, and the other the boy she had grown to like since the first day of middle school.

As they were playing together and sweating crazily, the door of the gym opened just a little bit to let a ray of light shine through.

Misaki momentarily stopped and went to check who was there. Usually no one besides the three of them and sometimes Coach went there, but for some reason there was a golden-haired boy simply standing there, gaping at something in front of him and his eyes were widened in awe.

She followed his line of sight and found it resting on her friend, who didn't seem to be bothered by the boy's appearance and was still playing passionately.

At that moment, Daiki was making a spectacular dunk into the basketball hoop, a smile of satisfaction on his face. And the blonde could only stare at Daiki's admirable skills and physique in envy.

"Sorry… only basketball players are allowed in the gym. May you please leave?"

Misaki bowed and smiled at him courteously, expecting him to leave. But the boy just turned and looked at her, his golden orbs shining together with the hot sun in the sky behind him, still partially looking at Daiki admiringly.

"Can… Can I join the basketball team?"

Misaki frowned and was momentarily surprised. _Join the team?_ It was only the start of the year and the team hadn't even recruited any first years yet. And why did he suddenly want to join? Was it because of Daiki's performance only?

Maybe it was a good thing that he was inspired by and impressed with Daiki. Then if more people reacted the same way, the club would increase in member numbers…

"That's great, but if you wish to register, you have to wait till the club fair later on in order to indicate your interest. Thank you!"

She stated chirpily, almost shoving the boy out of the gym. In response, he wasn't even offended and continued staring at Daiki practising, with the latter not even noticing the stranger's presence, until Misaki gently pushed the door shut and sighed with relief.

Hero-worshippers of the basketball team were extremely common, especially among girls for some weird reason. She had even heard some classmates talking about Akashi Seijuurou, the vice-captain as "Akashi-sama" and squealing about how Daiki was so muscular and fit, always thinking only of their physical qualities (as usual).

Misaki kind of understood their teenage hormonal triggers, but was mildly irritated only when they chatted about a particular Teikou ace. Once any female mentioned him, Misaki was slightly annoyed, _just_ a little.

She didn't completely understand why, but she suspected it had something to do with her feelings for him and their ever-growing relationship.

 **X**

A particular indigo-haired girl, accompanied by a bubbly friend, scanned the crowds for any potential recruits, and were giving out flyers and sweating profusely under the hot hot sun.

"I didn't know advertising for our club would be so tiring…"

Momoi Satsuki complained relentlessly and wiped her forehead which was covered in sweat and dirt, sighing as she gave out yet another flyer to a sort-of disinterested student who happened to be passing by.

He immediately threw it into a nearby dustbin after reading it, just after a quick glance and a cocky toss of his head.

"I've already decided what club to join, and it's definitely not basketball!"

The two girls groaned and decided to rest for a while, squatting down on the ground near a corner. Their schoolmates also looked equally exhausted, all trying to promote their club to the new first-years and students who were looking to transfer clubs.

They had been first years the year before, so they understood their kouhai's indecision, but _still_! They were getting so many sign-ups, but many were still utterly unaware of the strength of the club after the joining of the Kiseki no Sedai.

They decided to head back to the main booth for a while, sighing as they passed a whole stack of booklets back to Nijimura Shuuzo, the captain of the first string and Kantoku Kouzou, their coach, as they drank water thirstily from their bottles, only to receive teasing glances from a particular friend who was busily relaxing and leaning against a wall.

"Misaki and Satsuki, tired _already?_ You've only been out recruiting for about ten minutes! You haven't brought back any promising talent yet. Keep going…"

At the booth, Aomine grinned as he bounced a basketball enthusiastically, getting warning glares from senpais and awed looks from the students around him. Even the people from neighbouring clubs seemed grudgingly impressed by his demonstration.

Even without training, they could tell Aomine had plenty of experience with basketball, was good with it and most importantly, had the passion for it.

Then a few boys gaped at him and moved forward to sign up instantly, and a few more followed them, evidently inspired by the skilled player. Misaki grinned as she high-fived her friend in getting people to sign up.

"Misaki, I did that because I _wanted_ to, not to impress folks…"

'Anyway, that helped, so hehe… Do that more often to help us!"

Nijimura patted his kouhai on the back, smiling broadly. It was no secret that Aomine was the Teikou ace, and was regarded as legendary by the second and third string players. Misaki couldn't help but smile at him.

As usual, he looked brilliant in his jersey, as the basketball team wanted to show off their uniform to their potential recruits and further inspire them. His eyes were a deep dark mysterious blue, as deep as the colour of the ocean, seemingly shining in the sun, full of passion and happiness at promoting the sport he loved.

TEIKOU 5 was stitched to the back of his jersey in bold big lettering, and Misaki envied that uniform. Being a second-stringer, she didn't have a fine jersey like that… But at least she got the chance to play for Teikou.

Misaki waved goodbye to him as she went off with Satsuki in order to distribute even more flyers after resting for a while, only to bump into a tall figure that was walking towards the basketball club booth casually, seeming to slouch lazily.

"Is this the basketball club?"

A golden-haired boy looked down at her, his long lashes of his equally bright eyes lengthened by a little make-up possibly, and shone out of a pair of dark sunglasses. He seemed to regard her with a sense of arrogance. Misaki could almost read his thoughts.

 _He's thinking how such a diminutive, short girl like me could possibly be on the team, isn't he… And he's looking down on us again. Like so many annoying people out there._

"Yes. Are you interested? If you are, please sign up at the booth behind us."

Misaki pointed, trying to be as polite as possible, silently steaming up. For some reason, the glamorous stranger seemed to look very familiar indeed…

Satsuki was studying him carefully as well. It wasn't only at his potential, but rather at his facial features… Maybe she found him familiar too?

Then before they could so anything, the blonde quickly rushed past the both of them rather rudely, headed right for the basketball booth, and Misaki turned her head and saw him asking Nijimura some questions with a big grin.

 _He sure seems friendlier there than he was with us…_ Misaki sighed and dragged Satsuki off to give out more flyers, with her friend gawping at the blondie still.

"What, Satsuki? Don't tell me you suddenly went crazy and find that annoying guy _hot_?!"

Misaki snorted in contempt, prompting an angry torrent of words from the aforementioned girl.

"I – As I would _ever_ do that! He's Kise Ryouta, the model that Erika-chan always fangirls in class! Remember! She showed us that apparently hot photo of him. Practically all the girls in our level love him. He's a model for Iris Models and Zunon Boy magazine. See!"

Satsuki thrust her phone at Misaki, as the indigo-haired second-stringer processed the photo on the screen. It was of the same boy they had bumped into just now and was of the boy who was staring at Daiki at the gym, and he was dressed up nicely, with a charming smile and was definitely classified as "hot" for her classmates' standards.

This Kise Ryouta was actually rather good-looking. No wonder he was wearing that disguise. Probably that was to hide his identity to prevent people from spotting him…

And suddenly a flood of girls arrived near the pair, squealing and shouting for something or someone in particular. Misaki facepalmed immediately as soon as she heard what they were screaming about, and glanced nervously at her club's booth nearby, where the model was still at.

 _If he stays there and anyone actually identifies him…_

"KISE-SAMA?"

"Where are you, Kise-kun? We need to find you!"

"I'll join the club you'll be joining and follow you all the way~"

"Me too! Kise is ours!"

"Kise-sama, we'll take care of you forever~"

No wonder the poor guy had to dress up and pretend that he wasn't himself to hide his true identity. All those girls looked fierce and ready to assassinate any girl who even interacted with him in a friendly manner.

Her deskmate, unfortunately a fan of Kise, also talked a lot about the fan club she belonged to and how the other girls were so much more hardcore than she was in terms of loving the blonde model…

Maybe popularity wasn't so good after all… ?

If Kise Ryouta joined, that meant that girls might start arriving at basketball practices… All that squealing and shouting would make the players' heads turn upside down.

 _Shite._

 **X**

The basketball trials had recently ended, and it was time for the senpai to see their kouhais. Misaki, along with a couple of her teammates whom Kantoku had identified to be patient and qualified enough, entered the second string gym together with more basketballs than usual.

They spotted a row of rather nervous-looking first-timers, all whispering together quietly or just standing aloof and seeming lost. Misaki couldn't help but smile. She had been exactly like them the previous year.

It would _definitely_ be most entertaining and interesting to train a new player and maybe make them do exercises till they almost collapsed, _exactly_ how _she_ had been trained by her strict senpai. Nice not to be on the receiving end for a change.

And before she knew it, she was being assigned as a kind of mentor to a _very_ familiar face indeed.

She gaped, eyes widening, hands shaking a little before she wanted to _smack_ herself in the face _so_ hard to make sure she wasn't dreaming or anything.

Oh gosh.

Kise Ryouta was standing right in front of her, his darned beautiful molten gold eyes looking at her in a friendly curious way, and with a big, almost goofy, smile. She frowned and looked closely at his eyes and general appearance.

At first glance he was one of those "hot" guys whom every girl liked to look at and had a physically fit body, but she was looking for something more than that in him. First appearances, in Misaki's experience, were almost always deceiving. But as Misaki looked at him carefully, she realised that he _did_ seem very shallow.

The stereotypical hot dude. And furthermore, Misaki noticed that his eyes had no burning spirit in them. As they started a conversation, she found out he didn't have any particular passion to speak of, and wasn't absorbed in any specific thing at all. Basically he was a drifter, a model who was popular on the outside, but in a way hollow as he had nothing to truly love and do.

It might have sounded odd, but Misaki kind of pitied the way his eyes looked. Seemingly lifeless, just pretty, but didn't have anything inside them. So she was going to change the way he thought about basketball and hopefully inspire him to do his best in the sport.

Daiki had started a spark in Kise's heart already, and she needed to be the one to set it aflame.

Misaki narrowed her eyes and pressed her palms onto Kise's shoulders forcefully, causing him to emit a yelp of surprise at her effort.

"Why did you join the basketball club? Pretend you didn't see that dark blue-haired guy practising the other day."

Kise was rendered speechless for a few moments, then he responded casually.

"For fun. I'm just looking for a leisure activity outside my modelling in order to relax and chill. Modelling is super stressful, you know!"

Misaki drew in her breath. _Just to relax?_ She wondered if she had heard him correctly. Basketball was a sport to be loved, not just played.

All sports and other activities were. If he was only looking to occupy his time by playing, that wasn't going to be the type of player to play for Teikou Middle School. And she was sure that in order to be a good player, you needed both ability _and_ attitude.

All the players in the club were both talented _and_ passionate about basketball, and if a candidate lacked one of them he would _not_ be considered suitable. But this Kise Ryouta… Looks like she needed to _seriously_ work on this guy.

"Okay. I'll introduce myself, I guess. I'm Imayoshi Misaki, same year as you are, and I play Point Guard, not only because I'm not tall at all, but because I happen to somehow be somewhat good at it. I'm currently the vice-captain of the team if you don't remember me from trials, and the captain is third year Ishikawa-kun, whom you saw as well. You…"

She consulted a sheet of paper.

"You're okay with _any_ position? And you're a fast learner, apparently, from the notes taken by our senpai."

Kise smiled brightly, a little _too_ cheerfully for a normal person.

"Yes! Someone wrote that about ME? Awesome! Since I don't really have an area of talent yet, I wanna try out everything, Misaki-san~"

 _Wow, hyper much. Time to bring this airhead down to the earth._

"Well, how about a little practice. One-on-one. I'm not exactly good, but I need to test out your basic skills. It's not a competition, but do your best."

Misaki lifted up an orange ball and began bouncing it hard and fast on the floor, her eyes darting narrowly onto Kise's face as he crouched down in preparation as well, before dribbling the ball forward at lightning speed.

 _Height… Stamina… Speed…_

She saw Kise's eyes widen in slight shock as he moved forward fast as quickly as possible in reaction, catching up. Abruptly, she changed her footwork and turned around sharply, causing him to move off balance and skid to a stop suddenly in order to stop her.

Then, as he was just getting his balance, Misaki dodged him and dribbled the ball towards the net, and jumped as fast as possible before doing a lay-up into the basket, just before the blonde could reach. Kise looked absolutely amazed and shell-shocked at her speed, as she wanted to start laughing _so_ hard at his ridiculous derp expression.

"Wait till you see Ishikawa-kun! He's much faster than me and is basically the second string ace player. You're only new, and you're pretty good already. Keep working on it and your skills will be much more polished."

Misaki was about to say something else, but held her tongue and decided to tell him later. It was a little too harsh to tell him right now.

"So… Can I play in matches soon, Misacchi?" Misaki nearly choked at the nickname, but still looked back at the grinning blonde model calmly and coolly. _This kind of attitude will never get him anywhere, seriously._

To prove her point, Misaki instructed suddenly, "Wait. First, before I answer that question, please do a set of basic dribbles, some decent footwork before dunking or shooting the ball into the hoop. Then I will answer that." Kise merely shrugged, and began playing furiously, at top speed.

She narrowed her eyes and peered at him closely. She _really_ didn't want to make him unhappy, but his play… There was something obviously lacking in it.

"Well, your play is good enough to play in matches, sure, but you lack something special. You definitely cannot be on the bench for matches, much less the starting line-up. Before you start training with me, take some time to think about what is lacking. Or else – "

She nearly didn't say it. It sounded so awful.

"Or else you'll never become a decent basketball player."

Those beautiful yellow orbs widened and he stared at her, evidently confused, then drew in a big breath.

"Okay. Even if it kills me, I'll try to figure out what Misacchi-senpai meant. Then I can play as well and together with Aominecchi!"

 _Wait, how did Kise know his name?_

"Kise-kun! How do you know Daiki's name?!"

"I searched him up online…" Kise scratched his head, embarrassed, and decided to share his newfound information anyway.

"Aomine Daiki, the _best_ Power Forward in the middle school circuit, 1.75m, the Teikou ACE though he was only in first year last year! The other talked-about one is Akashi Seijuurou, right? The one with red hair and eyes… The slightly short one…"

Misaki gaped at him. Honestly, no one had reacted to her friend in that way before. She didn't know that he was even _worth_ searching up or spending time on for his basketball skills. Was he _that_ inspirational?

 _Kise really had serious fanboy issues…_

Crossing her arms, Misaki retorted, "First, don't call people short. Akashi Seijuurou's far more capable than you. Second, Daiki won't be happy if he finds out that you've basically been stalking him for so long. And… Is he the main reason why you joined the basketball club in the first place?"

Kise nodded, a slight flush creeping up onto his face. No wonder he had come to the basketball club instead of any other one. But admiration wasn't going to sustain his interest for long. If Kise was only here because of that bluenette…

"It is nice to be admired, but… You can search him up all you want I guess, but just don't tell him or else he'll go up in flames, okay? He's that kind of person. Also, don't make your main motivation in basketball Daiki. You have to find your own motivation. _That_ is one of the many things you lack."

The boy before here just smiled and jumped towards her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and startling her momentarily.

"Misacchi sounds like a really wise old senior suddenly! _Sugoi,_ senpai!"

"I'm definitely not your senpai! I'm in the same year as you! And why do you even call me and Daiki by –cchi…"

"I respect both of you! And I label whoever I respect by that, especially Misacchi and Aominecchi!"

"I guess that's okay…"

It was nice to be labelled a senpai. Even if Kise Ryouta _was_ in the same year as she was.

 **X**

It was the end of the tenth basketball practice of the year. Two friends looked up to the clear blue sky, cloudless for once, looking at each other occasionally, still walking to the bus stop together. Aomine Daiki was still bouncing an orange basketball, and was complaining angrily about his "stupid" captain.

"Akashi's so damned mean. I'm starting to think he's a demon sent from hell in order to torture us or something. Like, for warm-ups we have to do fricking 4 rounds around the entire school. That's bloody 6+ km! I feel like we're becoming all the sports teams combined! Last session we were the track team, and the last time Akashi became obsessed with passing and catching we were the baseball team."

The bluenette rambled on and on, glaring at the sky as if it were his worst enemy, punching himself in the arm before groaning from the pain and realising his error.

"I can't believe you punched yourself that hard, Daiki. _Anyway_ , Akashi seems like a decent guy who actually bothers to keep you in shape. Ishikawa-kun just asks us to go do warm-ups by ourselves and exercise at home, and sometimes people slack off which is annoying. I forget to exercise at home, besides. Ooh, you just gave me a great idea for training!"

"Shit! Now everyone in second string will hate me and try to kill me now. You better not try any of your stupid ideas on those poor dudes, Misaki. Are you saying I'm _lucky?_ Ishikawa sounds like a cool dude. I wanna meet him. He's so much nicer than that demonic _Akashi Seijuurou."_

Misaki giggled, as she thought of her stoic captain meeting the lax ganguro. Ishikawa Ichiro was a slightly tsundere-ish kind of captain, and although players often teased him, the team and him weren't that close.

He was sort of the commanding king, and the rest his subjects who whispered about him frequently. Misaki, vice-captain, _always_ had to be the sort-of "middle-woman" or kind of advisor to their king who was slightly closer to Ishikawa than the rest of the team.

Aomine glanced at her and a smile lit up his face. Misaki's giggling was not girlish in any way, even if giggling was supposed to be a girlish trait. Her face was contorted in a cute way, and her nose crinkled up as always, she struggling to control her laughter as she spotted him looking at her.

 _Don't stop laughing, Misaki. I want to hear your giggles, see your smiles and feel your joy every day._

He just wanted to be this carefree for ever, not care about anything in the world, just wandering about, daydreaming, talking with Misaki, being the happiest he could be. Playing basketball.

Stupid exams and tests.

No matter how stupidly or badly he had done, Misaki always helped him to fix it and sometimes would explain stuff to him after classes to help him pass his tests. If not, his mother would freak out since he would be getting single digits for everything.

The only reason why he was getting 60 marks and above for all his exams so far – surprisingly – was because of that indigo-orbed girl.

The night before every exam, she always did a sort-of cram session with him by Skype or video calls at night, no matter how screwed he was and no matter how much work she needed to do.

Misaki might not have an exceptionally big chest, although hers was kind of nice. Quite big for a fourteen-year old.

To him, that was what usually mattered in any girl. Small tits? Not for him. Disgusting. But though Misaki didn't have the biggest around, Aomine… had the deepest thoughts and feelings about her.

She would always be there, patiently doing everything for him. Though Satsuki, that brat, always tried to remind him and do stuff for him, he felt something special whenever Misaki was the one who did things for his sake.

Satsuki he admitted sometimes he took for granted, and sometimes he felt that he wasn't grateful enough, but Misaki – she was completely and utterly different.

It was like it was meant to be.

 **X**

[A/N]: Wow… This chapter combines fluff and a little character analysis. The Teikou arc of the anime was so good I downloaded all the episodes from that onto my computer and I still watch them a lot. The Kise part was completely and utterly descriptive of the Kise back in second year, the one who hadn't found his passion for basketball. Later on (in Kaijou) then he realises it. In this chapter, he is still air-headed and really superfluous about basketball.

In case you want to know, Misaki and Akashi knew of each other's presence, but didn't actually talk at all besides little snippets of conversation about basketball logistics and etc. in Teikou, since they were the vice-captains of their respective strings before they became captain together. And also, I didn't make Misaki the vice-captain just to fit Akashi. It was entirely coincidental, which I think is pretty cool!

I want to make this more of Misaki and Aomine's interactions, since there's always a lot about Aomine's change and stuff, but no actual characterisation via his real actions or interaction. This will help to clarify a little, hopefully.

In this chapter Aomine is portrayed a more decent person, unlike what he is often portrayed in the anime (besides the later arcs), a dark, cruel and heartless guy who basically hated basketball. Though the focus is on Misaki and Aomine's relationship, next chapter I'll probably focus on the other schools' players' points of view or others' opinions, since I've been quite one-sided in viewing the other characters from Misaki's point of view. Enjoy!


	10. Do They Match?

[A/N]: This will focus more on the Generation of Miracles now. Thank you **LUCKY02, Soldier9871** for adding this to your story subscription list! Please read and review!

X

Rakuzan stepped into the gym confidently, with the air on a champion that had won many times before, and knew that this match was likely going to be no different. They were led by a stern grey-haired man and a lively-looking indigo-eyed girl, who was carrying a _super_ large bag that looked like it could store a basketball player inside.

She seemed the only apprehensive one, and was frowning hard as she talked to the coach beside her.

Himuro Tatsuya sighed as he proffered another bag of potato chips to his purple-haired friend, who was already finishing a whole box of banana-flavoured Pocky.

Ever since the day he met Murasakibara Atsushi, he was assigned to feed and care for the almost baby-ish giant unofficially, and was in charge of feeding him whenever he got hungry. Or else, Atsushi would stop practising, and Coach Araki would essentially explode at least.

Although it was going to be Atsushi's hardest match yet, he still seemed nonchalant about their opponents, multitasking as his mouth was biting on Pocky, and his eyes studying the Rakuzan players.

Through an entire mouthful of Pocky, he somehow managed to spit out some sentences rather grossly, with some crumbs spilling out.

"Aka-chin never loses. And I'm not playing as well. Although Aka-chin isn't playing, he'll still ensure that his team wins. Anyway, they have that manager Misaki. Aka-chin said she's good. And Aka-chin is always right."

Himuro scowled, before rebuking his friend for being so gross. Atsushi was always saying that Akashi Seijuurou was always correct and supposedly somehow _never_ wrong or made any mistakes in his life.

No one could be that perfect, right? But Atsushi never spouted rubbish about anything. Whatever he was saying definitely would contain elements of truth in it.

However, Himuro could tell that the ex-Teikou captain had an extremely commanding presence. The moment he looked at the Yousen team, from a distance it might seem like a mere glance.

But when Himuro looked into those red and gold orbs, he almost turned away or cringed. Those eyes… Truly terrifying. They pierced directly through you, seeming to examine your every though. Made you feel vulnerable. Helpless.

Did those eyes make Atsushi so sure of Akashi's power? Or maybe not. Himuro could sense that along with those powerful eyes, the Rakuzan captain had other specialties. He was the captain of a bunch of older basketball players, after all.

That would take a _lot_ of skill. Unlike his current captain, whom almost no one listened to despite his seniority.

Imayoshi Misaki. Kantoku had mentioned that she was a freshman straight out of middle school and Rakuzan's new manager. If she was only a first year manager of a first-class school… She must be skilled.

Atsushi had said something about her being in the second string 'together with Ki-chin' – whoever that was – in second year. From what he had gathered, Imayoshi was the second string vice-captain and led them to victory in her final year.

Impressive. That was after a gold drought for more than a decade.

Himuro subtly watched the Rakuzan basketball team manager as she brought her team to the benches and started distributing things, with a kind of stern look on her face, almost motherly. He could tell that she had an athletic figure – after getting trained by Coach Araki once on identifying body shapes – and was really, _really_ experienced.

She was confident, happy, and was always smiling as she started talking to her team about something or other, as the players drank some drinks and nodded.

They all paid 100% attention somehow, unlike what the Yousen team did… That was kind of unsettling, but with Misaki and Akashi Seijuurou in Rakuzan, the players _had_ to pay attention or be bashed.

Even their coach was senior and looked kind of intimidating…

 _But nothing can beat Taiga and his tiger-like looks._

Though Seirin was already eliminated, Himuro was looking forward to facing them at the upcoming Winter Cup.

He didn't think much of the Interhigh, as Yousen, Touou and Rakuzan's best players weren't allowed to play, under orders of the ex-Teikou captain. Ridiculous, but nothing could be done to change that. It would be certainly uninteresting without them.

Himuro sighed, and decided to gather around Kantoku for further instructions.

This match wasn't exactly going to be very exciting. Perhaps Atsushi had altered his mood to one of slight annoyance – due to the absence of players – and the fact that Taiga wouldn't compete against him soon.

He would just have to wait patiently.

TOUOU

"Dai-chan!" A very familiar voice rang in Aomine Daiki's ears as Momoi Satsuki bounded up to her childhood friend, smiling super happily and seemingly unnaturally cheerful.

 _Did Tetsu confess to her or something?_

 _Nah, she would be hyperventilating and collapsing by now. This is way too mild._

 _Or… Does she want me to do her a favour?_

 _Oh no._

"Satsuki… Don't tell me you want me to do something stupid again? Whatever it is, I don't wanna. I need sleep. I'm tired."

Aomine yawned and immediately rested his chin on the table in the classroom as his classmates all streamed out for break, leaving the two of them left talking.

Satsuki pouted in annoyance and rested her body on his table, using her hand to nudge his chin away impatiently, causing Aomine to scowl at her and finally prop his body up to listen.

'I'm not so bad, Dai-chan! I just want to tell you, Mi-chan's match against Mukkun is today! Rakuzan VS Yousen! Aren't you interested at all?"

Satsuki squealed, hugging herself in delight. She obviously was _way_ too interested in her best friend's basketball life.

 _What should I say?_

 _I want to see her again, watch her play, but I can't…_

"So what? She's likely playing her match against Yousen super far away near Akita or Kyoto or something. Besides, Rakuzan will win."

 _Urgh… Why do I always sound like that?_

"But if Rakuzan wins, we'll play Mi-chan and Akashi-kun and the other players! Aren't you even slightly interested in their strength?"

"I'm not even playing, Satsuki. Neither is Akashi. I don't really care, since we'll likely lose."

"DAI-CHAN! It's your old cru-"

"Shut up already, Satsuki!"

Aomine lay back again and sighed.

 _Misaki…_

He thought of that little photo of her she had taken with him and Tetsu, which he kept hidden in his bedroom drawer beside his bed. All those beautiful memories in the past stained by his behaviour. Tetsu withdrew from him as well, and he was left all alone.

 _Tetsu…_

KAIJOU

A blonde model was glugging a sports drink quickly as Coach Takeuchi Genta _finally_ let the team take a break, and all his teammates were doing likewise, making most of the chance to rest after exhausting training designed to prepare them for the Winter Cup.

After the loss against Touou Gakuen, they were more determined to do well and perhaps even defeat them if they faced Touou again.

But Kise wasn't just thinking about their future matches against them, or even the Winter Cup. His thoughts were simple.

He had found out from online that the Interhigh semi-final match between Yousen and Rakuzan would be that very day, and well… with both Akashi and Murasakibara not playing, it wouldn't be very interesting. But it was a still a clash between 2 prestigious high schools.

Basically a match without their aces. But it would be still exciting, still stimulating, with a _very_ interesting new Rakuzan manager that Kise was keeping his attention on.

He highly suspected his senpais of this as well, despite pretending they were only interested in their self-progress and didn't bother about the Interhigh. Kasamatsu had questioned him – with a rather red face earlier – about _who on earth_ his "indigo-haired friend" was.

After stammering out the three-word phrase for around five minutes.

And twisting his hands together nervously.

Before smacking him, naturally.

Obviously Misaki. Who else?

She had similar ideas to Kuroko, that basketball was a _team_ sport and that they all had to work together happily – he was still confused about that part, yes, but he was slowly getting enlightened as he played with Kaijou – but still went to Rakuzan. An elite school very similar to Teikou.

 _Why_?

Kuroko went to Seirin, that obscure new high school, but Misaki journeyed to Kyoto.

 _Why_?

Maybe it was because she focused a lot on her studies and was serious and all that, but Kise felt that it was because of something else. Not only because Rakuzan was prestigious, but maybe, just maybe…

Kise suspected it had something to do with a particular blue-haired ganguro. Ugh. He was the main reason why Misaki was sad about their past in Teikou together. No matter how much Kise admired Aomine and his exceptional talents, it didn't stop him from seeing that Aomine was really a monster in some ways.

And that meant hurting one of his closest friends, for whom he had one of the strongest feelings for.

He had seen how much he destroyed his Kaijou teammates, all those disappointed expressions and crying faces – with Aomine simply saying that he was unbeatable. What kind of person would do that?

Kise couldn't really remember the days back in Teikou when Aomine wasn't so beastly. He had joined the team in second year and was relatively new, spending one less year together with the ganguro. But he still hadn't been as awful back then. He was a basketball-loving boy, his idol. Someone that he had always looked up to. Misaki was right.

 _You have to stop looking up to him in order to defeat him._

He sighed and continued practising.

X

TIME SKIP

RAKUZAN

"Yea~ Yea~ Yea~"

Hayama Kotarou leaned back in the bus heading back to Rakuzan and started whistling a tune very awfully, occasionally poking his disgruntled black-haired teammate besides him or elbowing him roughly.

"Hey, Reo-nee, that was a cool game, right? Even with Akashi not there, it was pretty awesome. And we totally crushed them, eh?"

Mibuchi Reo huffed, shooting him an irritated glare and continued staring out of the window, perfectly poised, not slouching in the least bit.

"Don't bother a lady. It's unrefined and ungentlemanly. Besides, Yousen didn't have that Miracle, Sei-chan's old teammate. Murasaki-something. So naturally we were much better, even without Sei-chan."

"Ne, Reo-nee, don't spoil the fun…"

Misaki couldn't stop chuckling a little before turning around from her chair and glinted at the boy who had just spoken, causing him to gulp a little and stop immediately. Although Misaki wasn't exactly fierce to the team, she had an intimidating aura when she wanted to be in control.

"Don't be so complacent, Hayama-senpai. This is only the semifinals, and we still have to play Touou – and win – in order to win the Interhigh Tournament. They're better than Yousen I suppose."

She was about to say something important, then stopped herself.

 _Why did they have to be up against Touou for the finals?_

Touou had way-too-interesting people. If they were playing against them, Misaki would have to face Satsuki and her alarmingly good tactical skills and analysis, Shouichi and his mind games that broke his opponents, and…

Well, this time she wouldn't be seeing him on the court. Akashi's orders.

And the match was in about a week's time.

 _About that other person who bothered her…_

She still hadn't informed her team that her brother was on the Touou Gakuen basketball team, but she had to soon. She just wasn't prepared to reveal that she hadn't followed her brother and lived in Tokyo, and surely people would be curious…

But if she didn't say anything, when the two teams met up and their names were announced or read out, people would start asking questions… Besides, it would be good to prepare Rakuzan for Shouichi's tactics.

Kantoku already knew, though, as he had recognised the surname and had openly asked her the moment he started formally training her as a manager. Avoiding all the awkwardness that might follow.

Akashi already knew everything, though. Even without telling him, Misaki had a hunch that he would have figured it out anyway.

She wondered if he had ever gone through any emotional drama in his life. He was perfect. Simply too perfect to be true.

Misaki gazed at him, sitting beside her, gazing out of the window with an unfamiliar expression in his eyes: one of interest. Akashi Seijuurou was certainly thinking about something. Usually his eyes were just _looking_ at whatever they were glancing at, but this time they held a little emotion. She couldn't tell what, but it was peculiar.

She was a girl who often showed her emotions via her eyes, not one to keep it all locked up. Shouichi and Dai – Aomine were exceptions. She wasn't that type to just be quiet about it all, not saying anything about whatever happened in daily life. She would say everything out, just not as openly as someone like Kise.

Misaki always thought that those quiet, seemingly emotionless people like Tetsu always hid something in their hearts, were silently despairing, or something like that.

Or they were just really nice and introverted, perhaps. But, honestly, Akashi wasn't that type of person. And Tetsu was just… different. Unique. But Akashi was just… too…

She knew the pain Tetsu had been through, so she understood him. He was the phantom player, after all.

 _Akashi… What's up with him?_

Most people couldn't imagine, never in a million years, him proposing or confessing to anyone. He was so… just indescribably perfect, so _untouchable_ so that no one could see how he might fall in love with _anyone_. Or even show a slight bit of friendship. Except her.

She hadn't seen his genuine smile before, or see him do anything nice for her expressing concern or the slightest bit of his feelings, but he radiated an aura of care.

Everything he did made her heart skip a beat, made her head fly into the clouds, made her sit up straighter, made her smile stretch slightly wider, made her mood improve, even if it was just by a tiny bit.

She hadn't felt this feeling in the longest time. It was an old, raw feeling, something that she had experienced before but had forgotten. And then she recalled.

Second year.

Everything that happened.

And the memories flooded back, all at once, overwhelming her.

 _No no no why –_

Misaki turned away from Akashi, a lump in her throat.

She was just afraid, afraid that someone might hurt her again. She didn't dare to care about someone, didn't dare to show even a little bit of concern, didn't dare to give something a little more than basic friendship, didn't dare to do anything extra. Making friends was perfectly fine. But having deep connections and ties that might potentially be broken?

No.

She would never again do something like that, that would break her heart into tiny little pieces, crush her soul and give her sleepless nights, and make her life despairingly miserable again…

After all, who would try out something again that they had been hurt by two times already.

( _and she had_ )

If you try it once and get hurt, it's okay. Don't get hurt again.

If you try it twice and get hurt, that's a little naïve, but it's fine. Just _don't_.

If you try it thrice…

Recipe for disaster.

She just wanted to make him smile _because_ of her, be happier. Not carefree because that would be changing his personality altogether, but be _happy._

She just wanted to make a difference.

But she was going to try to understand her friend – no, classmate and deskmate, as much as possible. Akashi was different, and although he had been the captain of the Kiseki, he wasn't that arrogant prick she thought he would be.

He seemed to have a background story worth listening to, worth understanding, and a quality that was unique.

Whatever that quality was that he possessed, Akashi had it in truckloads, and whenever he interacted with her the slightest bit or did anything vaguely friendly, it made Misaki's heart turn cartwheels.

It didn't feel exactly foreign from the feeling someone used to give her.

Someone whom she used to know as her best friend and a few months later, her…

 _Can I see you again?_

 _Will I ever be able to see you?_

X

"Right. We're playing Touou in 6 days, and we need to train a little more before the finals. We're going to win this, but not without any training. Touou wasn't very prominent till this year because they've been putting more effort into their scouting of promising players, so you can bet that this year they'll be quite formidable and confident."

The Rakuzan manager clicked on her computer a few times before connecting a wire to the side of it, with the Rakuzan basketball team regulars sitting before her and Eiji Shirogane sitting at the side.

Most managers needed only to manage the finances of the team and to arrange logistics and mostly miscellaneous things, but Misaki was an exception. She had prior experience, so the coach thought her exceptionally useful in helping to bring the team to its full potential by helping him with their training.

"First, I'll show you the players so you can understand them better."

Her breath hitched a little as she pressed the space button on her keyboard and up flashed a picture, together with some basic information. She needed to reveal some important facts here.

A certain redhead noticed that slight lump in her throat.

"Sorry, but I haven't… I mean, I kept some things from you. If you haven't figured it out yet… the Touou Gakuen captain and Point Guard, Imayoshi Shouichi here, is my… brother."

Hayama abruptly stopped chewing on some sweets and gaped at the screen, dropping the box, which got picked up by his captain who was glinting at him in annoyance. For once, the Power Forward didn't notice or stutter with fear at the redhead.

And every single regular except the redhead was staring at the screen, _totally_ gobsmacked. Eikichi even banged the table with his hand in shock, not bothering to care as his water bottle fell onto the floor.

"Yes… Sorry once again… I mean, his surname is the same as mine, right? I mean… Urm, sorry.

"And here are his vital sta – Eikichi-senpai, don't do that again, please. Shouichi is 1.8m, average height, shorter than everyone besides Hayama-senpai. 71kg, and if you want to know for some reason, his blood type is AB.

"He only began playing in first year, but he's pretty quick in learning and basically he can do three pointers despite him being a Point Guard, pressurise his opponents, and an uncanny knack for buzzer beaters. So no slacking around him. He might do anything anytime."

Again, those piercing multicoloured eyes focused on the indigo-haired girl. The last sentence wasn't meant for him. He wasn't even _going_ to play. She met his eyes confidently, a little despair in her eyes, as if asking him _why_ he wasn't going to play.

She knew – it was to give "a little excitement to the game", in his own words when she asked him. It was true – the Kiseki no Sedai might just dominate everything. After all, Touou had only recently become prestigious because of Aomine and Satsuki.

 _I need to focus…_

"Anyway, lets continue. Next is vice-captain Yoshinori Susa, another third year. Small Forward, 190cm and 80kg. Slightly bigger than your average height. Specialty is Fade-away shot, as shown here…."

"Ryou Sakurai. First year Shooting Guard. 175cm and 59kg, he's a little small, and a _total_ self-blamer. But don't underestimate him. He might be one of those people with mood swings or something like that. His abilities are quite …"

"Wakamatsu Kousuke. Second Year Centre. 193cm and 85kg. Big-sized, like most other Centres. According to sources, has rough personality and isn't afraid to try new stuff. Specialises in rebounds."

"Aomine… Daiki."

Misaki bit her lip. She just wanted to hide her face then. She already could feel several of the Rakuzan players looking _really_ curiously at her. But maybe it was just because they had heard a name of someone belonging to the Generation of Miracles.

Hayama suddenly decided to cross his legs and pay attention really hard. Eikichi stopped trying to eat some corn he had brought, and Mibuchi stopped trying to stop him. Akashi was just sitting there, looking at her half-expectantly.

Urgh.

She needed to get over this ganguro.

"Power Forward. 192cm and 85kg. Big, just a _little_ smaller than Wakamatsu, the Centre earlier. He's a WILD player. _Very_ similar to Hayama, but _extremely_ dangerous so."

Here Hayama looked even more interested and propped up his head, narrowing his eyes to study his so-called future opponent.

"He has speed and agility out of the norm, has animal instincts, can make formless shots with his body parallel to the ground, changes the pace as he likes it – most of the time, fast – as he used to play streetball with _adults_ when he was younger.

"Basically, Aomine Daiki has a LOT of experience. Whoever's marking him needs to be speedy and has stamina. Persistent."

Misaki paused, letting these words sink in to let her team understand the extreme importance of them. Aomine Daiki was a _monster_ , and the way the Rakuzan captain looked at her, she had a feeling that he knew what Aomine could be like as well.

"Hayama."

At the mention of his name, he suddenly shot up in his chair, standing up and saluting, while shouting loudly.

"YES MA'AM!"

Managing four irresponsible, strong-willed, slightly annoying and eccentric boys as captain must not be easy.

X

Two people walked along the classroom corridor together right after class had ended. Not quite friends, but more than acquaintances. An indigo-haired girl, and a multicolour-orbed boy.

They always journeyed to the cafeteria or the classroom after class together, most of the time not talking, simply enjoying each other's presence. Close but not quite together at the same time.

Unsurprisingly, no one had commented on anything like that. If this occurred in other highs, fellow classmates and friends would start thinking about how _close_ they seemed to be. Middle school would be worse.

But this was Rakuzan. A prestigious high school, well-established. Victory and success came first. Besides, the two involved were sure to start plotting their classmates' murders even if they were to mention such a thing.

Four months had passed, and they weren't friends yet. One was achingly heartbroken, but still wanting to do something about it. There was a sort of gravitational attraction between the both of them, sharing a common past, knowing all the same people, living in completely different universes.

The perfect, and the one who had to fight for anything she wanted. Maybe that perfection attracted her.

The other was desperately trying to control any emotion he might have, occasionally letting that cover of his slip and getting it back unconvincingly. Sometimes, having everything under his control was simply… disgusting.

She was a game changer. At first, he thought he had control over her, but it turned out to be the opposite. Someone unpredictable, that let his control slip. Maybe that difference attracted him.

But both of them still weren't quite clear on why, why they were together as almost friends. The girl thought of him as her friend, as one who understood her, even if it was only a little. The boy thought of her as a girl who was his only companion and comfort, even if it was only a little.

Her thoughts were filled with moments of him teaching her shogi once and failing miserably despite his utmost trying, both of them walking in the rain together sharing an umbrella, her head falling onto his chest, rocking on the train soothingly, and most of all, his beautiful eyes.

His thoughts were filled with her sweet little smile whenever she thanked him after a small favour, her blush when he held her wrist gently at the game, anything exceptional that she did, he all stored it inside his brain.

But one of them was slipping away. Memories flooding back into her from the past. They weren't quite the same as the present, but they served as a little warning for the future. Two people she had loved before, and their promises were _utterly_ and _completely_ empty.

She still remembered some words someone she used to know had said to her on a certain night. They made her so happy, and a couple of weeks later, made her so heartbroken.

" _I won't do anything else besides making you be happy from now on."_

And it turned out to be quite the opposite.

 **X**

I wanted to focus more on the romantic aspect of the story, since basically the underlying current of this story is about the complicated relationships between the characters. Since there is very little mention of Kuroko although he's the main character, he will be brought out more soon. Don't worry Aomine-lovers, Aomine wouldn't be an antagonist for much longer! He's actually very complicated, having two sides, one after he 'blossomed' and his personality before, which is really very sweet.

In this story there are a lot of psychological bits involved like Akashi's double personalities and Misaki's past, with Imayoshi's mind manipulation games and the Other Side of Kise Ryouta… Please review and tell me if you like it so I can include more or less of these self-reflections and analysis, depending on your likings.

Although in KnB usually only Akashi and Aomine are portrayed to have two sides, many others are likewise. For example, Midorima can be totally stoic most of the time, but inside he is soft-hearted. A true tsundere. Kise can be a happy-go-lucky guy, and also a passionate, burning person who refuses to see anyone he cares about get hurt, especially when he goes serious while playing basketball – which is totally _hot_. In this story, I will be exploring this slightly more as everyone in this world has more than one personality.

This is especially so for Misaki, because if you have noticed in every chapter she is portrayed rather differently, and even within chapters her different aspects come out. She reacts kind of differently with different people – like in the earlier chapters she is more cheerful with Midorima, cynical with Kise and sort of quiet and nervous, self-conscious with Akashi. So far, Misaki's the happiest with Aomine in the past.

Misaki can be _very_ confusing. She is thought of as kind, quiet, stoic and ruthless, and has many varying personalities, together with Akashi. So both of them pair really nicely, and since both of them have to hide their feelings at times, they are very similar. Akashi's father and Misaki's parents also treat their children rather cruelly at times, even if they have good intentions. Hence they understand each other so well. Although that's the main attraction for now – besides their looks and all – later they would truly develop feelings.

It's kind of hard to distinguish between love and feelings which are _not_ love, so I feel it's more realistic to make them simply more than ordinary but less than lovers first, before gradually gravitating closer and having a true relationship. For example, Akashi opens up to Misaki first and cracks. Please do not take this personally, but sometimes fanfics which feature the second Akashi personality falling in love are a bit unrealistic, since the second Akashi would be focused on winning and not on relationships.


	11. Emotions

[A/N]: Thank you **OftheNight511, TohruKur** and **bitterstories** and **Nuvola De Demone** for adding this to your story subscription list! There will be more focus on Kuroko here! Sorry for the late update! Please read and review.

X

Kuroko Tetsuya was drinking some sport drink nonchalantly next to his teammate Kagami Taiga, who was as usual, glugging down a few big bottles at once and panting heavily after each gulp. Their coach Aida Riko was pushing them _way_ harder than usual, mainly because they had recently lost to Touou Gakuen and they were determined to defeat them and play well in the Winter Cup. This was their fourth extra practice, on a _weekend._

The Interhigh results were very clear to him. After Misaki had informed him that Rakuzan had defeated Yousen, the final match would be between Rakuzan and Touou. Since Aomine and Akashi weren't playing, the result was obvious.

The oldest and well-established Emperor from Kyoto would naturally be the winner of the two. Despite Touou having Momoi by their side, Rakuzan had Misaki. Both managers were on par, with Momoi and her analysis, Misaki and her experience and in-depth observation.

Kuroko, like the rest of the Seirin team, was particularly disappointed after the Touou match, and nobody really cared about the Interhigh any more. Most of his friends thought Touou would win, and he didn't bother to correct them. Rakuzan… Was the true monster. Touou was a little child next to them.

Three Crownless Generals, a Generation of Miracles captain and extreme strategist, a strict acclaimed coach and an experienced, talented manager. He didn't like using names to categorise people's abilities, but in Rakuzan it worked that way. Even Aomine next to Akashi was almost nothing. He was the supreme. The absolute.

But Kuroko wanted to change all that. Rakuzan wouldn't be an emperor anymore after the Winter Cup. After the Interhigh, Seirin would probably be baffled at Rakuzan defeating Touou Gakuen, the school they had lost to so badly. They would have an overly-high estimate of the school's abilities, but… that wouldn't be so bad. They would train harder, get faster, better, stronger…

And he knew there was someone in Rakuzan High that had the same motivation as him. Someone special, someone with the ability to change _everything._ Except she had taken a different path from him, and had decided to attend another prestigious school with a strong winning culture. Perhaps she wanted to transform her school basketball team, but he doubted so.

She just wanted to escape from her past, not be trapped by it so, and experience what it was like to live an entirely new life. Not thinking about the basketball Miracles, all those changes, how much she was hurt and shattered by the people she loved so much. Kuroko felt the same way, but he wanted to make a difference. Face _everything_ that happened to him back then.

 _Aomine-kun… I'm sorry, but I have to do this. For everyone and everything._

"Yo, Tetsu. You look like you're drowning in feelings or something. You okay?"

That startled him a little, reminding him of someone he used to know. The first sentence? The exact same two words someone else used to greet him every day, before leaping up and hugging him, enveloping him in his arms.

Followed by a pink-haired almost naggy girl, and a sweetly smiling slightly impatient indigo-orbed crush. Back in the days when they thought they would be together forever, and stay as one.

But he was in Seirin now. He couldn't afford to think so much about his past. He had chosen to leave and go to a school without reputation, in order to escape from _that_. Concentrating on his future together with his partner and basketball teammates was the most important.

"Thank you, Kagami-kun. I am fine."

His phone beeped, and Kagami looked away in disinterest afterwards, thinking about something else. He picked it up and glancing around to ensure that no one was looking at him – quite unnecessary due to his little presence, though –, he began to read the message sent.

 _Tetsu, we're playing Touou in 3 days. Any advice? Thanks!_

This was going to take a long time. Those three sentences might have sounded cheerful, but he knew what deep emotion they hid. Misaki wasn't just looking to win. They _were_ going to win, obviously. It was a question of how, and…

He typed some words, and turned his phone off, before Riko called the team back to continue.

 _I'll call you tonight at 8. No problem. It is fine._

 _Good luck, Misaki. In seeing Aomine-kun again._

That was one girl who refused to give up or let go of her tragic past. When she met her long lost friend… Old, raw wounds were going to open up again, scars would become wounds once more, and her heart would start to bleed heavily once again. For nothing, _nothing_ had changed since then.

 _Aomine-kun…_

 **X**

Akashi Seijuurou was sitting in an expensive-looking, _extremely_ pricey chair and sipping some ochawhile completing some work _._ His eyes piercing, multicoloured, dangerously beautiful, his back as straight and as hard as a rod, his handwriting flowing and elegant.

Absolutely perfect. Nothing less than what he was expected to do. Perfection was usual for him – expected and completely normal. A typical habit. Just like victory. He expected nothing less from himself.

His Father had returned from his last business trip, and was prepared to depart from Kyoto again in one week's time. As usual, he wanted his son to be as perfect as ever, topping his level in academics, and performing exceptionally well in sports. Leading the Rakuzan High basketball team to victory as a captain. Emotionless, failure-less, prideful and brilliant. The very ideals of an Akashi.

When Father was in Kyoto, at home with him, it was easier to relax. To pretend that everything was alright, that he, Akashi Seijuurou, was still keeping everything in perfect order, was the epitome of an Akashi, and was the idealistic young family heir.

But lately he had been restless. His life wasn't in that perfect order any more. It was different from anything he had experienced before. His mind was spinning, his heart pounding.

 _What was this feeling?_

In high school, he had spent countless days in the dormitory bed, and instead of sleeping, he thought about a certain indigo-haired, cheerful girl. Akashi was supposed to examine everyone, sum up their personalities, and treat them as if they were pieces in a shogi board game.

He was pleased with the results he had gotten from a third-year basketball player who had just recently joined the regulars. Almost like a replacement for Tetsuya, in high school. Perfect. And all the others were under his will of command, and could be manipulated at will.

As expected, the moment he had stepped into class, or walked by students in April, the beginning of the school year, Akashi had received the usual intimidated glances: sudden eye movements away from him, occasional cringing, total avoiding of the multicolour-orbed teen. Everyone had always been scared by his aura the moment they met him, knowing that he was unique, and that he had _everything_ under control.

Except one lone girl. The only one who actually dared to dump her bag down on the seat beside him and even ask him about some trivial things. Most people wouldn't even dare to meet him in the eye.

Yet she smiled at him, was friendly in manner, but didn't act as high-spirited and annoying as a certain blonde model back in Teikou. Intelligence shone out of her eyes; her manner was confident; not vulgar and quite refined for a high school girl. He could tell that she had been brought up rather strictly.

Friend of Daiki. That Teikou ace. Like himself, Daiki had changed and blossomed into an immensely strong basketball player in second year. Akashi didn't exactly understand, but from what Misaki said, it appeared that they used to be extremely close, before breaking apart for some reason. Likely due to that change.

That somehow reminded him of Tetsuya. His horrified glance when he noticed that Akashi's eyes became heterochromatic. Almost amusing for the usually solemn, expressionless teen to make such an odd face. Akashi smirked at the thought, before letting that smile slip from his face as his thoughts changed direction.

The puzzle pieces of his life, once perfectly arranged and all in order, were falling apart. Slowly but surely, the usual routine of his life was being disrupted. He was getting more and more confused by a certain person, his feelings all mixed up together, and lately his eyes were becoming troublesome. No longer red and gold. They occasionally turned red, _both_ of them, like two years ago.

Though it was only for a short period of time, Akashi could feel his personality change. Whenever his eye colour varied, it was like a switch being turned ON for his old self.

The only reason why he kept that old personality was because somehow, somehow he felt an urge to preserve the old him, no matter how useless and pointless it was to do so. And whenever his personalities got disrupted, his entire being changed. He was softer, no longer the merciless him, back to that _weakling_ he was back in second year and younger.

Akashi couldn't deny it any longer. She was making him snap, snapping out of his usual self, slipping into a different him. Making his control slip, muddling his thoughts and feelings – everything that made him confused. It was something that he had never experienced before – not having _any_ control over his feelings. Her as well – whatever she did, it was unpredictable.

No matter what she did to him, Akashi couldn't help but silently liking it, although he didn't openly admit it to himself. Her reactions to whatever he did were absolutely _adorable,_ and whatever she did was beautiful in its own way. The way she tripped over the stairs sometimes, or even dropping her worksheets: all accidental, but it made his heart skip a beat.

She wasn't all soft, either. Her parents were deceased, and people like that would naturally be strong and independent. But Imayoshi Misaki was different in a way altogether. She treated Akashi almost as a _friend_ , never hesitated about her decision-making even in the most critical of situations, believed in those around her, and altogether had a quiet air of – he didn't know how to describe it at all, but it was somehow beautiful to him.

Whenever he was around her, he didn't feel unsettled, more like – a sense of not quite knowing what to do. When he had grasped her wrist holding the lunchbox of honey-soaked lemons, it was purelyinstinctive – he just felt like doing that, feeling her tender skin, that beautiful outer layer of hers. He was just as startled by his own action, but needed to carry it through. His heart had beat faster and faster, partially unsure, but he didn't care.

Her pale skin on her face had flushed slightly, and he could sense that her own feelings were a slight bit mixed up as well. But for some strange reason, he just _loved_ making her feel like that. He wanted to make her feel like that whenever he interacted with her, just like the way he did.

Extremely confused, almost shy, just feeling extraordinary. For the first time, unsure, not quite so confident anymore, losing his control of everything around him, including himself.

 _What am I thinking?_

 _Why –_

One of his eyes changed colour, after seemingly undergoing a lengthy struggle.

Akashi felt a sudden urge to pick up his phone, and he did. Beforehand, he had taken a few photos with the basketball team together with Misaki, and he glanced at the pictures in his camera roll, sent to him by Misaki.

There were four altogether out of the measly eleven pictures stored in his phone – two of all of them standing together with Kantoku, and two of just the players. They looked all ridiculously cheerful, with bright smiles, yet Misaki's face wore an expression that was just slightly different from the rest. Her eyes as well.

Then he received a message from her, coincidentally. He scrolled through all the previous messages that they had exchanged. Sixty-three of them, mostly regarding formal matters like basketball practices.

That was considered a lot for any personal exchange between Akashi and anyone who wasn't his close family member or his family's employee, no matter how formal the messages were.

 _Akashi-kun, can we extend practice on Mon and Tues? I've asked Kantoku and he said he might be able to make it. Also, since you seem well-travelled, do you know any cheap, good places to eat in Kanegawa? I'm visiting Kise today since he has extra practice today, but I don't want to trouble him since I'll be visiting him after I eat._

He smiled a little, slightly pleased to have such a request. True, it was mostly about school, but she had asked him about something informal as well. This was the first time he was texting someone from school about such a trivial matter, but somehow he enjoyed the casual way she contacted him.

Still, he was always so stiff when talking to her. Her style when talking to him was more formal than the way she interacted with most people. And he wished to change that as well.

Those eyes of hers held a certain depth in them, as if they were trying to tell you something. Her smile was small but definitely pretty and they hid sweetness in it, but was not entirely happy. Her lips were curved in a way that wasn't quite up, and her entire face was pained by something hidden by those beautiful midnight orbs.

Sometimes, to most people, she would smile a large smile, one that he was sure she hated making, but she had to, to make sure people thought she was happy living her life was it was, a scholarship student, intellectually bright, Rakuzan's basketball team manager.

Akashi was sure that her terrible past had something to do with that. Although it was unspoken, he knew that Misaki had experienced awful things before. It wasn't something ordinary people could tell, but Akashi was different. That girl had gone through terrible things. And he could tell just from her expressions sometimes, those…

Sometimes, he just wanted to let her lie on him to rest from her hectic, tiring life, and let his fingers touch her delicate, beautiful face and comfort her as she fell asleep dreaming about incredible things.

That frightened him a little. He had never felt that way about someone else before, or ever felt so strongly about a fellow human being.

But somehow he relished it, enjoyed that queer, beautiful feeling.

 _Is this what they call love?_

He wasn't quite sure.

Before he could do anything else, that eye flickered back to its original colour, and he sat up slightly straighter.

X

A tan-skinned teenage boy propped up a very familiar magazine up on his knees and started flicking through the pages and yawning. It was a little late, and he was feeling a bit tired, though he was never one to sleep early.

That resulted in him waking up at around noon the next day, which was a habit that developed over quite some time. Anyway, sleeping late let him go outside sometimes at night and admire the scenery if he was feeling moody.

Sighing in resignation, he tossed aside the magazine and lay down, arms stretching out. _So sore…_ For one of the first times that year, he had been forced to go for training by his childhood friend, after hours and hours of bugging in school and naggy text messages and calls to make him attend basketball practice.

He was one of the best players already, but his coach and manager still wanted to make him go practise… Though he had to say that his muscles needed warming up. After so long, playing was a little different than before.

But still, the point was: he _didn't_ need it. Without training, he would still be in tip top condition, perfectly fine, excelling. The best Power Forward in the entire high school basketball league. The game against Kaijou had shown everything about his abilities. He still topped Kise, one of his old teammates, without doing barely anything.

Even if he played one of those Uncrowned Kings – decent players, but not as good as his old school, naturally – he could defeat them without putting any extra effort to practise. Besides, his captain Imayoshi let him skip practices, so as long as he won whenever he played. The Interhigh finals was coming up, and since he wasn't playing, _why_ would he need to practise? He wouldn't be playing in very long.

The finals were against, Rakuzan, right…

His brain swung into rapid motion.

 _Rakuzan…_

Two of his friends back in Teikou went to that school. Prestigious, one of the best high schools, and regarded as the Emperor from Kyoto. The winner of all the basketball competitions for three years straight. Unchallenged. It seemed snooty, and apparently accepted lots of rich kids. But there _was_ a girl in that school whom he used to know, and _she_ wasn't wealthy or snooty. A normal person.

His heart thumped a little as he pressed a palm to his forehead and groaned. That was _just_ the one thing he had decided to mess up in middle school – _her._ He didn't like to admit it to himself and _never_ to others, but he knew that what had happened between the both of them was just stupid, and mostly not her fault.

Urgh. No matter what, he still wouldn't attend practice. Maybe he was wrong for exploding and leaving her behind in the rain, since she was just trying to help him like everybody else, but still basketball was as boring as ever.

He wouldn't be playing against Rakuzan, anyway. Practically nothing to do till the Winter Cup. Besides, he wouldn't need to do anything _again._ At least his captain didn't force him to do anything. He was the one with the most power besides the Coach.

Imayoshi Shouichi had been way different from what he had thought originally. The moment he met Imayoshi, he had smiled almost sadistically and squinted at him. Weird behaviour for a national team. And whenever they met up during trainings, Imayoshi would talk to him about "the will to win" – whatever that was. Obviously he would win!

The first few practices, Imayoshi had actually mentioned his sister a couple of times. He was a little afraid of the megane captain, and for a period of time Imayoshi had actually made him do a little more than usual, with the excuse that "he needed to keep up with the others in terms of physical fitness". But he knew better. Sometimes, the Touou Point Guard would whisper in his ear some things he normally never would mention.

"Do you know how much you made someone else cry because of you?"

It was obvious who he was talking about. So he just gritted his teeth and tried his best to ignore whatever Imayoshi said. But whatever he mentioned just reminded him of her _._ What he had done to make her so upset.

Misaki usually kept either a cheerful – rare after second year – or an impassive face. She was especially good at hiding her inner feelings, and what she truly felt. In third year, almost no one knew what she was actually thinking, except maybe Satsuki and occasionally Kuroko, despite his good observational skills.

Seirin was weaker than he had thought. Since Kuroko was in that school, he assumed that they were _at least_ quite decent. Kuroko's partner wasn't particularly skilled, just a stupid challenger, who wanted to defeat the Kiseki no Sedai – he scoffed at the thought. He couldn't even be a good partner to the small-sized, blue-haired teen! He had a weak light.

Kuroko deserved better than that, even in an obscure school like Seirin. However, he had to say that that Kagami guy was decent for someone who had almost no experience in the Japan basketball circuit. At least he was closer to his position than anyone else, no matter how big the skill gap was.

Then he got a call, his phone ringing noisily to the tune of an annoyingly catchy song, Satsuki's work. He still hadn't figured out how to change it back to its old boring yet normal ringtone, partially because of laziness. Turning his body around and groaning, he answered the call, then winced because an _extremely_ high-pitched voice came talking through the phone. Oh no. Bloody _stupid_. He should never have picked it up.

"Dai-chan! We're playing Rakuzan soon, and though you're not playing against them personally, we think it's a good idea for you to practise along with the line-up for the game. Then maybe you can learn more observational stuff or something, that will help – "

Rakuzan again?! When would she actually understand what she's talking about?! Sometimes, he wondered if she would actually purposely defy Akashi's will and put him into the match, just to get closer to the Rakuzan team for her own use of observation, and to reunite with a certain middle school friend of his.

"What use would bloody observational stuff do for me? It's only for you."

Silence.

"I don't _need_ that. My skills are enough to help me win. Without attending practice or anything, I still can help win matches and play normally. What use is going to train? Even if I went, what fat good would that do? The team can learn from you alone. Damn this shit. So just shut up and do nothing about me. There's nothing you can fricking do."

He slid "End Call" on his phone and lazed back to his original position on the bed, before frowning in guilt. Maybe he was just a bit too mean to Satsuki. Wakamatsu probably got her to call him, or that old man who always tried to get his childhood friend to make him attend trainings.

Anyway, Satsuki probably would stop bothering him, and if she didn't, Imayoshi Shouichi would stop her. He didn't really care about this kind of stuff like the others. Ryou would likely just suggest one or the other, and then start cowering in fear of being scolded.

Smiling almost in amusement, he lay back and started to drift off into the second nap that day. That day was Saturday, the day when two particular Rakuzan students originally living in Tokyo would return back to their actual homes.

One would be doing whatever fancy stuff his family was doing, and the other would likely be hanging out with a certain pink-haired girl or munching on some food together with a blonde model.

Jealousy crept into his heart when he thought of a certain model hugging her.

 _Stop it, stupid. Don't think about that kind of stuff._

And sleep gradually came to him, and he slept soundly.

The Interhigh Finals were coming soon.

X

This chapter is kind of a collection of different moments of significant characters, and the focus is their current high school lives. There hasn't been emphasis on Shuutoku much, so I'll be _sort of_ introducing them next chapter. There will also be a funny interaction moment between Misaki and Kaijou, so look forward to it!

I'll be exploring more into the other teams besides Rakuzan and Touou, though it might take some time…


	12. Old Bonds

[A/N]: Please read and review! Thank you **Nulova De Demone** for adding this to your story subscription list! I'm so sorry that I can't list the names of the other three amazing kind souls who added this to your story subscription list too, because someone hacked into my email and I deleted my email shortly afterwards :( once again, thank you so much and I'm sorry! Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

 **X**

Misaki panted heavily as she _finally_ managed to reach a particular high school, gleaming as though it had been just polished the day before. She had to specially travel from the Kyoto train station to the Tokyo one, then – with very heavy bags and a tired soul – journeyed to the Kanagawa station just to help an old friend of hers.

And she was still wearing that dratted school uniform, which would obviously alert everyone that she was an enemy. Urgh.

She felt her phone vibrate for a second in her pocket, and pulled it out, eyeing the message with a big sigh.

 _Misacchi, where are you? Hurry up! Senpai-cchi wants to kill me! He kicked me twice for looking at my phone for calls already! My face and back hurts! Save me! AHHH_

Smirking despite her situation, Misaki replied cynically, before slipping her phone back into her pocket. No pity at all for the hyperactive friend. He was always annoying the people around him without fail.

 _At least I'm actually coming to help you. And shut up. I'm sure you deserved it. Plus, tell your senpai that I really like him. Should I meet him to discuss strategies on how to annoy you?_

She entered the school, slipping past the suspicious-looking security guard which stood near its gates, and started to look around for any signs. Spotting a vending machine, Misaki made her way there as a starting point.

Based on her experience, vending machines were usually close to the cafeteria, or any sporting area. She just stood there, peering for anything that would help her.

Then, a black-haired, somewhat familiar-looking tall player passed by in a sports jersey, drinking Pocari heavily and making his way in her direction, likely to buy some more drinks.

She narrowed her eyes and stared at him closely. There was the number '5' at the back of his jersey, and it was _definitely_ the one of the Kaijou basketball team. She had seen this dude before.

Moriyama Yoshitaka. Third Year Shooting Guard. After extensive research, she had _finally_ gotten to see him up close. The internet didn't tell you anything, after all. And Kise, being clever enough, hadn't provided her with anything incriminating to help her in data analysis.

 _About 80kg. Around 165, 166cm? His muscles look stronger. Likely after more intense training. That means Kise would have grown as well._

He looked a little flirty. Perfect for her to approach him without seeming suspicious. A little hesitantly, Misaki walked up just as he slotted a few coins into the machine and pressed a button, letting a bottle slide out from the flap at the bottom.

Putting on her most natural yet innocent-sounding voice, Misaki started to attempt to start conversation.

"Uh… Do you know where the basketball courts are? I'm here to visit a friend of mine who is in the basketball team. He's a regular…"

 _Wow, how sly I can be._

Misaki's voice trailed off as Moriyama turned around in surprise at her voice, before smiling at her, in a way that seemed really cliché and overused. She could just imagine his thoughts then.

 _Yes, yet another new girl on whom I can use my pickup lines on._

Wow.

As expected, Moriyama Yoshitaka moved forward and somewhat suddenly, gripped her hand with some gentle force. Misaki jerked back instinctively with a flinch, a little surprised, before recovering and smiling back at him, with a little flush on her face.

She should have been prepared for that, but still, it was just so… new to her.

She wasn't particularly touchy-feely or friendly to people she didn't know very well, so whenever someone not close to her touched her suddenly, her nerves would prick and she would flinch.

Although Misaki thought it seemed a bit rude, the boy before her just looked even happier. His eyes looked beautiful, full of hope – though it was likely because he had a new prospect of attracting a girl…

Well, they just seemed glistening and happy compared to others' eyes. She knew too well what crushed hopes looked like.

"Ah, yes! I'm too happy to guide you there, since I'm a basketball player myself. A regular as well! What is your friend's name? And what is _your_ name? I'm sure I haven't seen you before… Ah, what pretty hair you have! I'm Moriyama Yoshitaka, Shooting Guard, Kaijou basketball team…"

Apparently Moriyama hadn't noticed the obvious difference in colouring or badge of Misaki's school uniform yet, or else he was just too attracted towards girls and too busy trying to think of pickup lines to even care. Misaki gazed not-too-subtly towards his shoes.

They seemed slightly big… Information coursed through her mind as she examined his body closely with her eyes, as the player before her tried to get her attention urgently, thinking that she wasn't paying attention.

"Uh… Thank you… Oh, sorry. I'm…"

She hesitated. She didn't want to reveal all her details. He might have remembered the Touou basketball team captain's name.

"Misaki. Although you're probably going to think I'm a fangirl, I'm here to help Kise. I come from another high school… uh… that's quite nearby. I've watched one of Kaijou's matches to support Kise, my friend."

 _Maybe being horrible at lying was going to end her up in trouble one day, shit._

Moriyama's smile immediately turned into a big frown the moment he heard his kouhai's name. But something must have told him that Misaki wasn't an ordinary fangirl, and he smiled – with teeth that looked like they had been bleached – before gesturing towards the back, showing her the way to the basketball gym.

"We're practising here, after you! Ladies first, after all~"

Misaki silently rolled her eyes as she stepped in front of him, walking towards a tall rectangular building on its own that looked like a gym.

It was grand and impressive, and although she could tell that its paint was a little chipped and worn out when she neared it, it was obvious that it had been a nicely furnished, beautiful new building when it was constructed at first.

Hesitantly stepping inside the gym entrance, Misaki peeked inside, her head popping in. All she could see were flashes of royal blue jerseys, worn by tall and fit players who were running about, evidently in the middle of practice.

She peered at the sea of people in front of her, and before long she managed to spot a mop of bright yellow hair that unmistakably belonged to one of her Teikou friends, and immediately ran in his direction.

"Ki-"

Before she could say anything, a rather big-mouthed brunette with _very_ thick eyebrows came running up to her, and used his hands to make a big cross in front of her and started spouting words like a watering spout with water gushing out, gesturing frantically.

Thanks to her good hearing, Misaki could _just_ manage to understand what he was saying, and at the same time examine his body closely for any clues. Almost like a stalker, but she needed to do it in order to help her team. Still, the boy's fast and loud words affected her concentration a little.

 _Hayakawa Mitsuhiro. 185cm, around 75-80kg, Power Forward…_

"S(orry), s(orry), I'm afr(aid) you just cann(ot) come h(er)e! Senpai c(ap)tain will k(ill) m(e) if I l(et) you in! And… Plus… S(orry)… A(re) you Ki(se)'s f(angi)rl? I've s(ee)n you b(efo)re at the gym, r(igh)t?"

Misaki managed to catch the last question and stared at Hayakawa almost scarily, her indigo eyes almost protruding through his body like laser lights. The teen before her gaped, momentarily startled, and stopped his fast flow of words.

Apparently he had assumed wrong. Her eyes were like jewel-plated spears, terrifyingly beautiful, and as dark as midnight.

"I'm his friend from Teikou, and definitely not his fangirl. Right… uh, Moriyama-kun, right?"

Moriyama nodded, and clasped Misaki's hand in his tenderly as yet another gesture, with the latter gaping at him in shock with a blush on her face, her hand struggling to withdraw itself and getting strong resistance. He was even more flirtatious and outrageous than she had thought.

"Of course not Kise's fangirl! Misaki here is too nice for it, and besides, she is here to visit him, not to admire him. Besides – "

"MISACCHI~~~"

Moriyama got cut off by a lemon-haired, cheery guy with a single earring, who instantly bounded towards the pair and wrapped his arms around his indigo-haired friend, hugging her with as much force as possible.

Misaki smiled a little in spite of herself. Kise was always so happy, no matter how bad anything could get. The eternal little sun that orbited around all the planets in the solar system. Then she sweatdropped as his hold started to get a little suffocating.

"Kise, please let go of me…"

Grudgingly, he did so, and Misaki turned to face him, before digging for something in her school skirt pocket. She had come all the way to Kanagawa just to do this for him, survived a flirty senpai trying to attract her and managed to not let her ears explode from a certain loud-voiced senpai – another one! – and hopefully he would be at least slightly appreciative.

Then, Misaki placed a small pencil in her palms and handed it over to Kise a little grumpily.

"Do you know how much effort I needed to put in just to get you this? Besides, you're smart enough. You're lucky I got you this stupid pencil. You don't need to study any more. More like _I_ need it."

"Ne, Misacchi… Everyone deserves a little luck, right~ And you're way smarter than me, so you don't need this! Arigato, Misacchi! I can't believe you came all the way from Kyoto for this! Looks like you regard me more highly than I thought~"

"Urm, I _did_ say I was going to attend a match – "

Yet again, the bright ball of sunshine thrust his arms around her before pressing his head onto her shoulders, sighing in contentment.

"Misacchi, your body is so warm… I miss this…"

Moriyama could just stare at Kise and whisper in agony, eyebrows arched, and silently dying inside with a little annoyance and anger at himself.

"Why does he always get the good ones…?! Why didn't I think of this…?"

And Hayakawa just stared and started hyperventilating, trying to think of _warm_ and _happy_ thoughts, just anything really, that didn't concern Kise and his obsession with warm bodies. Was he cold or something?

Did he mention that last time Kise interacted with a girl, he held hands with her for the entire lunch period just because her body temperature was warmer than most?! And that was because she had a frigging fever.

And the blonde model just made the girl faint with happiness, before he began running away from the crowd of indignant and loving fangirls. All filmed inside his phone.

X

Even more dramatically, a certain angry-looking Kaijou captain ran forward, almost steaming. His kouhai was trying to hug someone again by the looks of it, a dude with seemingly-long indigo hair. And Moriyama was nearby for some reason, looking as if he had constipation.

Hayakawa's face was even redder than usual, which was saying something, and his hands were cupped near his face…? Thankfully, Nakamura and Kobori were still beside him drinking and raising their eyebrows at the odd situation.

Kasamatsu Yukio took his team and practice seriously, the most in the entire Kaijou team, and that was why he was the captain.

If there was anyone trying to interrupt the Kaijou basketball team's training, he was going to _kick_ them in the face with his iron legs, rain _punches_ on their body, _inflict wounds_ on their bare skin till they were sorry that they were attempting to disrupt Kasamatsu and his team.

"KISE! I need to kick you, getting distracted again! Hey, you there. Stop trying to disrupt – "

Only when Kise pouted and turned around, person in hand, and when Moriyama looked longingly at the person with his brain formulating new cheesy things to say with that oh so familiar gaze of his, then Kasamatsu realised that the so-called guy he was bear hugging was in fact a _girl._

A _girl._

Kasamatsu interacting with a _girl_ would just be like a famous pop star talking to his or her most obsessed fan.

One side slightly embarrassed and full of silent pity for the other person, and the other turning as red as a tomato and steam going out of his ears, before collapsing or running away, utterly and completely overwhelmed. Basically, disastrous.

And what made matters worse, was that the girl in question was a very familiar one. The indigo-haired girl who had approached him outside the Kaijou locker preparation room after the Touou match and had requested to see Kise.

The one whom he had _fainted_ in front of, _almost choked_ in front of, and practically _died_ internally in front of.

Here she was yet again, looking at him with a seemingly pitying gaze directed at _him_ that made his internal organs turn into slush, and his muscles that helped speech become immobilised.

Absolutely un-useable.

It didn't help matters that he could feel Kobori's gaze on his back, as if burning him silently for his inability to interact with the opposite gender.

"Hello Kasamatsu-kun, I think we've met before…? Remember me, at the Touou match? I'm Kise's Teikou friend."

Kasamatsu was just about to tremble and run away, before he noticed some _extremely_ familiar lettering on the front of her school jacket. Those school colours were _way_ too familiar to be a coincidence, and the school crest as well. He narrowed his eyes at her.

 _Rakuzan High School._

Just the most prestigious school in the basketball circuit, the Emperor from Kyoto, the one who had been the dominator of all high school basketball tournaments since they actually began taking place. And what was she doing there, exactly?

Suspicion boiled in him.

Still, Kasamatsu struggled to find appropriate words to say to a girl.

"Urm… uh… You're from… Rakuzan! Right…! And… why? Are you… from the basketball team?"

Kasamatsu let them out in a rush, still stammering and stuttering a little, his face turning a little redder from the effort of speaking to a female. He was slightly calmer than usual, as the words RAKUZAN reminded him that the girl was potentially dangerous.

But… this was a _girl._

"Not exactly. I'm their manager. It's okay! I'm not here to spy, I'm here to pass something to Kise here… it may sound odd, but it's a lucky rolling pencil. It's to help him in passing exams…"

Misaki continued explaining, stepping slightly closer to a tomato-faced Kasamatsu, till she was _invading_ the personal space of the captain, in Kasamatsu standards, which defined personal space as one metre for females.

Anyway, whenever a girl was within one metre of him, he would start to hyperventilate and well… the outcome was all too likely. As expected, his hands cupped his chin, and he started to breathe heavily, sweat pouring down his forehead, not from exhaustion, but from sheer anxiety and nervousness, and well… anyone could guess what would happen next.

The usually powerful, serious and stern Kaijou basketball captain Kasamatsu Yukio, who took no nonsense from anyone at all, fell onto the floor, right in front of a girl that just approached him to talk to him about something that was related to his _position_ as a _captain_.

Not even vaguely conversational.

Misaki's lips twitched with some amusement, but also felt a little guilty. After some conversation with Kise about his captain, she had already known about Kasamatsu's shyness with girls, but she didn't really mean to aggravate that condition of his, right…

Poor Kasamatsu. The complete opposite of Moriyama Yoshitaka, that outright flirt and female-lover. According to her friend and his kouhai, "Moriyama senpai-cchi was a pitifully handsome guy".

Another brunette came up and started carrying his friend, bridal style. Misaki instantly recognised him as the one who did the same thing on the day of the Kaijou vs Touou match. _Kobori Kouji. Centre_

She really kept running into the same people. At least she would have the chance to properly analyse their statistics and that would help Rakuzan in future matches.

 _Sigh._

TIME SKIP

A particular green-eyed and bespectacled, extremely tall teenager made his way to one of the areas behind the spectator seats in a large gym, accompanied by a smiling black-eyed friend who was too busy trying to catch the other's attention to see anything that was going on below them near the basketball courts.

The megane brushed his friend off impatiently and tried his best to ignore his loud annoying remarks, trying to spot a few people amongst the crowd of people who had arrived near the playing area.

Actually, they were mostly spectators coming to watch. The players were likely in their preparation rooms, but he just wanted to see when the people he knew were going to come out.

The main reason why he wanted to watch was because he wished to see a particular ex-teammate of his play. Two of them, actually, but it was mainly because of one of them, who had somehow become captain of the team in second year.

His current manager seemed a lot more mature than the old one – but still with an especially childish mentality – and perhaps, his old personality had come back to life.

Something about that girl told him that she could tell that one of her players was unique, and had an odd personality. She would be the one with the most power to intercede. Still, the Rakuzan captain didn't like people prying or attempting to defy anything of his.

It would certainly be intriguing to watch the two managers of opposing teams fight it out off court. Momoi was known for her Scan abilities and analysis, but Misaki had experience and… well, she had learnt a lot from Momoi in middle school by hanging out with Aomine and her so much, and practising with Kuroko and Aomine.

Midorima was irritated at himself for not noticing such a girl sooner. Someone who knew the shadow and the light of Teikou, someone who managed to be a good friend to Aomine without exploding with impatience, someone who was the first mentor of Kise… Extraordinary.

Takao Kazunari was amused at his friend. Shin-chan could be way too funny. The tsundere had insisted that he had something on that afternoon and couldn't come with him to watch the match, then in the end was the one who made Takao come. Takao did want to come, but preferably with someone with him.

In the end, just as he thought that his friend had abandoned him at the match, he saw the green-orbed Shuutoku Shooting Guard stand at the back of the gym, using the exact same disguise as before, when he was watching a different match.

Did Shin-chan really think that he, his best friend, wouldn't recognise the superior glint in his eyes, that ridiculously colourful crop of hair, that height of his and a super childish toy in his hand? Nah. Takao knew what Shin-chan looked like, and that mysterious stranger standing there looked exactly like him, just trying to hide from Takao.

Then just as he was going to crack another joke at Shin-chan, the players came out.

Rakuzan came out first, almost smugly.

Their coach, Eiji Shirogane, with a frown and grey temples. To Takao, he was one of those old discipline masters whom everyone was scared of in middle school. Never smiling, looking a little too stern and imposing to be a regular high school basketball coach.

Their manager, Mi-chan, a scary-looking smile on her face, and her hair bundled up into a high ponytail, very oddly holding a bag of potato chips and eating them hungrily, predatory eyes darting back and forth, looking a little too cold and quick to be a regular high school basketball manager.

Their first-year Captain, Akashi Seijuurou, with heterochromatic eyes that seemed to pierce into everyone's souls, intimidatingly striding towards the Rakuzan bench, looking a little too scary and young to be a regular high school basketball captain.

Rakuzan on the surface seemed normal, but with a little more observation, they were anything but.

FIVE MINUTES BEFORE

TOUOU

Momoi Satsuki stood in front of the Touou Gakuen team as they put on their jackets with her hands on her waist, muttering darkly and occasionally glancing out of the locker room.

The match was about to begin in less than twenty minutes' time, and as Rakuzan was in Kyoto, she hadn't gotten any chance to analyse them and find out their statistics. She would only have about ten minutes during the teams' warm-ups to figure things out, unlike in the match with Seirin.

Anyway, without even looking at the Rakuzan players, Momoi knew that they were a tough bunch. Rakuzan was a school which emphasised victory and strength, success in everything, and basically that meant that their teams would have more than enough preparation, and way above the national average.

Add Misaki, a strict and totally ruthless manager that would be sure to push the players to the limits, to the equation, and Rakuzan was a monstrous team.

There was a reason why that year's line-up was labelled as the strongest yet, even without the presence of Akashi Seijuurou. Although he was obviously Rakuzan's best bet and their ace, Momoi knew that his abilities didn't represent the entire Rakuzan.

They were better than that. And after knowing Akashi's plans to not let the Kiseki no Sedai play, Misaki and their Kantoku Eiji would have started planning long ago. Not to mention that Touou didn't have their ace as well.

"We're facing Rakuzan today, the strongest basketball team ever. It's our toughest match yet, and don't be miserable just because Dai – I mean, Aomine isn't playing. Akashi isn't playing for Rakuzan as well.

"And we're strong on our own, so make no careless mistake today, because it'll cost a lot. They'll exploit every single little flaw of ours if they ever find one. Good luck. And, um, I almost forgot. Stay away from the Rakuzan manager. She's… a little like me."

As expected, Ryou Sakurai just nodded and immediately began chanting some complicated instructions to himself to remember, before apologising almost immediately for making any unnecessary noise.

Wakamatsu Kousuke grunted heavily and began flexing his arms, mumbling something about 'a useless sitting duck', probably referring to a special kouhai of his who annoyed him the most.

Yoshinori Susa was quietly sitting there thinking to himself. Imayoshi Shouichi was cleaning his glasses and smiling eerily to himself, as if wondering how to make his sister lose her cool and make Rakuzan lose, in the most tragic way possible with his little mind games. Satsuki sometimes wondered _how_ Imayoshi Shouichi could be related to that sister of his.

Momoi sat down, sweating with nervousness. Her boys were going to play that day, and hopefully they would win. It was going to be almost impossible, but they were going to try. It would be interesting to go against her old best friend from middle school, though.

Despite knowing Misaki for so long. Momoi still didn't understand Misaki's analysing abilities fully. Maybe she was more dangerous than she had thought. No chances taken.

She turned to look at her childhood friend. He was sitting on the bench twirling a basketball on his finger impatiently, as if waiting for something. Momoi wasn't fooled by that nonchalant stance of his.

She could tell that Dai-chan was waiting for Misaki to come out. To see his old middle school friend, and to see what she had become. After all, the two friends hadn't been in contact since third year. And in third year they barely communicated at all.

She, as well, missed the old Misaki dearly. Something had changed within her in second year. She wasn't as happy or carefree anymore. Misaki became a little too emotionless, and kept her feelings hidden, all bottled up inside.

She used to laugh a lot, joke, go out with her friends and was generally the definition of happiness. Then her smiles started turning painful and her eyes began hiding her true emotions, hiding herself away from the rest of the world.

And Momoi really couldn't bear to see her best friend for three years act like that. In third year she had been slipping away, and now as she was in a different city and only saw her once a week or fortnightly, the gap between the both of them was only going to get bigger.

She had slipped from Dai-chan's grasp a long time ago, and though they had feelings for each other, they had no choice but to keep it away to stop the pain from getting to them once again.

 _Dai-chan…_

 _When will you two patch it up?_

 **X**

Sorry, no fluff here, but there are more of hilarious moments with Kaijou. Next chapter Misaki and Aomine will finally start interacting and he wouldn't be portrayed as such a shitty guy anymore. Aomine lovers, good!

Look out for cuter and fluffy moments.

Sorry for such a short author's note, but honestly, this basically sums up this chapter.


	13. Touou Gakuen

[A/N]: Thank you **potato in paradise,** **Roughshodhail,** **Cassie Star** and **AstraStar** for adding this to your story subscription list! I haven't gotten reviews in quite a while, so please review if you have anything to say! There will be greater focus on Rakuzan in this chapter, and a bit of fluff. Please read and review!

 **X**

Touou came out. According to Misaki's calculations, six players yawned for seven seconds straight or more, three rushed off somewhere after informing Satsuki hurriedly, four glugged down water without stopping and one odd player whom she identified as Ryou Sakurai started bowing down and apologising to her brother for some reason, with Shouichi trying to get him up and looking awkward.

Misaki immediately set her gaze on the players and began analysing. Her eyes wandered to their manager, and frowned as she realised that Momoi Satsuki was doing the exact same. Hayama looked really suspicious and began poking Eikichi to ask him, but the latter was too busy flexing to show off to Satsuki, _stupidly._

Didn't she tell him to stay away from her? Before long, she was going to gather information about everyone on her team. And Mibuchi was looking interestedly at Satsuki as well, seeming to envy her large chest, since well, he himself was almost a girl in terms of personality.

Her eyes flickered to someone familiar, and almost strayed back to the other players the moment another gaze met hers.

Midnight blue orbs met her indigo eyes, and they stared at her with an intensity and a passion, somehow concealing a hidden emotion in them. She flinched, and stepped back a little. Then their gazes flickered, and both looked away from each other, awkwardly scratching their heads.

And Misaki could feel a sharp probing gaze at the back of her head, belonging to a certain observant Rakuzan first year. He already knew that they used to be in perfect harmony, and they were never going to be again.

She cleared her mind of thoughts.

 _There's no point thinking about that anymore._

 _It's over._

 _Forever._

But there was a part of her that didn't want to let go of what had happened in her past, not anytime soon, and just hold on for eternity, hoping for an impossible solution that would fix everything that went wrong in her stupid miserable life, that would somehow mend all those broken bonds that had been destroyed.

She looked at her brother standing nearby, and acknowledged him with a small little look in the eyes and a barely visible nod of the head. No matter what, Imayoshi Shouichi was her rival in terms of basketball, and she was going to defeat his team.

And the whistle blew, signalling the start of the warm-ups. She glanced at the grey-haired, balding man beside her and nodded. Time to kick start all the action.

Then Misaki turned her head to look at the first year Rakuzan basketball team captain before nodding a little. They had worked out an effective kind of communication where they could read each other's body language and what they were thinking, and were able to plan strategies and share information.

She understood Akashi Seijuurou too well, and he understood Imayoshi Misaki too well.

Both were perfectly synced in movements, masters of analysis.

Some would call it downright creepy, but others might call it beautiful.

 **TOUOU**

He looked over at a familiar Rakuzan manager on the match opposite his team, quietly talking to her coach, eyes following each and every single player warming up, eyes calculating who knows what, penning down some information with every single dangerous flick of her wrist, and change in direction of her piercing gaze.

Almost chuckling, he continued shooting baskets. On his team, he probably knew her best. Even better than that kouhai of his did, probably.

Misaki had always been like that. Even when they were younger and playing some games as children like tag in the playground, his sister would always pay close attention to her opponents and remember their physical traits, and share them with him, strategising to see how they could most easily beat their opponents.

He always laughed at her and labelled her as over-competitive, but what he hadn't realised was that the Misaki ten years ago had been the first version of an observational mastermind.

He could read her mind from head to toe, and understand whatever she was thinking. Ever since young. Misaki had trusted him wholly, and shared lots of personal information with him, no matter whether he wanted to even hear about them or not.

Though she had closed up significantly since she turned fourteen, he still managed to read her easily. That was the benefit of having a close younger sibling. Misaki could be manipulated as easily as putty in his hands.

But Misaki couldn't read _his_ brain.

That was the real advantage of Touou over Rakuzan – whatever the manager was thinking and planning, whatever strategies or information her head might contain, whatever Rakuzan was going to use as a play – the captain had all of it in his head, and could use that information as a ploy to defeat Rakuzan.

Rakuzan might be the Kyoto Emperor, but Touou had him.

And that was sufficient.

Oh, how he liked playing mind games with his opponents.

His eyes met those of his sister's one last time, one pair of stealthy, plotting, jet-black eyes, and the other fiery, piercing, midnight blue orbs.

Oh he knew what she was thinking all right.

But he didn't know the extent to which that information would be able to help him.

 **TIME SKIP**

As expected, a particular prestigious school had won. The outcome was obvious. Rakuzan had dominated the game throughout, occasionally slipping due to the opponent's captain, manager shooter, but maintaining their huge lead of 127-59.

Their managers didn't even get distracted throughout the entire rather unexciting match, and instead kept their eyes firmly on the other team's manager, or on the players, both frantically writing down some notes. One of them bit her lip, wondering how the other side had managed to score that many points, even with her strategies.

The captains eyed each other rather scarily, each with an intimidating gaze, although the winning team's captain had the most piercing glare that seemed to pluck every bit of courage out from a person.

The shooters just huffed at the ground and sloppily made their ways to the bench, one with an ugly look and the other too busy examining his fingernails to do anything. Centres glared at each other super aggressively, rather too angrily to be regular, normal-tempered people.

Evidently both of them were rearing to get some revenge on the other.

The Power Forwards didn't really do anything, just rested on the bench and drank drinks, talking to their teammates, one not caring much about the other, while the PF on the winning end gesturing frantically to the person beside him.

X

Misaki walked over to the Touou side before realising that Satsuki was missing, and then quickly made her way outside, trying to find her. Actually, she wanted to find a particular old Teikou ace. She wanted to revisit the past, clear out _everything_ that had happened, and stop the sleepless nights that had been haunting her since her heart had been split into pieces.

She abruptly stopped in her footsteps, and spotted a very familiar mop of pink hair.

"SATSUKI!"

Her best friend turned around as she heard her, smiled and quickly ran towards her, leaving behind a disgruntled chocolate-haired boy. Misaki couldn't help but stifle a laugh. Ryou Sakurai apparently went on his clutch mode, and was swearing as Satsuki reached Misaki.

He was _way_ too tired to walk any longer, and had been dragged along by his excited manager.

"Well…" Misaki scratched her head, cheeks reddening. "Do you know where…"

She was cut off, as a tall figure came into view. He was scratching his head uncomfortably, holding a bunch of basketballs, and yawning loudly. His messy hair was a deep dark blue, as beautiful as the depths of the ocean, and his eyes a fraction of a different shade.

She nearly turned away, but simply stood there looking at him, looking at his eyes, studying his sharp profile and features. He had grown, as expected. But he was the same.

Her cheeks turned a little pinkish as she stared at him, her eyes growing rounder and rounder.

"Satsuki, what about - "

And then he noticed her presence. His eyes widened as well, his arms nearly collapsing by the sides, a stray basketball dropping from his lean muscular arms. Two pairs of dark blue orbs met each other, one filled with despair and regret, the other filled with pain and sadness.

Two enraptured souls.

 _The tears in my eyes are all that you'll find_

"Ah, Dai-chan's here!"

 _The scars on my heart just deepen my sorrow_

Satsuki announced, slowly backing away, hands clutching Ryou, not-very-inconspicuously giving Misaki a wink, making her blush even more, her mind swirling with thoughts. _  
_

 _The love that you gave me has gone with the rain_

"Wait, I suddenly remember that I have to go and … urm, meet… Wakamatsu! Ah, yes! Now we shall leave the both of you here _together_. _Alone._ "

 _The joy that had filled me has turned into pain_

She bit her lip so hard at Satsuki's words that she could taste blood in her mouth.

Satsuki emphasised, smiling and giving a super embarrassing thumbs-up to the both of them. As the pair opened their mouths to protest, the Touou manager started running off somewhere, leaving two once entwined souls standing five metres away from each other, their minds clouded by dark memories from the past.

Two half-unwilling souls, that thought that the other didn't need them anymore, while both shared the same kind of despair, the same kind of regret, the same kind of darkness.

 _It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you_

They just looked at the ground awkwardly in embarrassment, orbs flickering to and fro, hesitant to start anything, before Aomine took the plunge and started speaking.

 _Wishing I'd realised what I had when you were mine_

"Misaki. Urm… You know the both of us used to be super good friends or something? It sounds damn cheesy, but it's true. Not romantic or anything, but you know. We hung out a lot."

Misaki looked up at the sound of his voice, to the image of a _super_ awkward Aomine Daiki biting his lips nervously and basketballs littered all over the ground. A ghost of a smile swept past her face before disappearing. Her eyes met his once again, almost questioningly.

 _Daiki, are you there? Or is Aomine still in your place?_

 _When would you ever come out, Daiki?_

 **X**

 _When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew._

William Shakespeare's quote. Perfect for Aomine Daiki's situation.

And he had actually memorised it in second year of middle school just to say it to a certain girl on Valentine's Day the next year, after surfing the net for hours and hours just to search for a nice quote for the girl he liked, and to check his pronunciation by replaying a certain YouTube video countless times and repeating after himself, feeling foolish.

His English sucked like _hell_ , and he hated it like it was his worst enemy, but he was willing to go and put in some effort to go and recite it in a perfect English accent – as much as possible – to _her_.

He wanted to make everything perfect just for her, since that year he hadn't got the guts to confess or do anything to show her his true feelings, and decided to start preparing for the next year in case he chickened out or anything.

All that effort definitely stopped him from giving up and deciding that it was too embarrassing.

But before Valentine's Day came rolling round the corner and he _finally_ got his chance, he _had_ to go mess it all up by bullshitting away and leaving her alone standing in the damned rain, crying.

Hurting her so bad that she never smiled that smile of hers for the rest of the year. Which ordinary guy would do that to a girl? Besides, he _liked_ her. Doubly insane. Curse his stupid brain of his.

At that time he had actually thought that he was correct, and it was her fault for exaggerating, just like everyone else around him.

 _Changed?_

He, Aomine Daiki, had always stayed the same for two straight years. Yet she was lamenting about something that didn't even happen.

He should have known. Tetsu and Satsuki had said the exact same thing to him before she did. They wouldn't have said so if it was non-existent, right? Anyway, they all knew him way too well to make up stories or imagine things about him.

And he had only realised his stupid mistake after playing against Tetsu's high school. They had won, but seriously, he had seen the fire in their eyes. The passion burning in them, the great desire to play as a team – those were the things that he and his school seriously lacked.

Then he remembered that fiery pair of eyes _way_ back in middle school, realising that he had actually _forgotten_ about her.

It might have been for a short period of time, but shit, he had _forgotten_ her. After memorising that quote and all that, he abandoned her memory.

He tried to convince himself that it didn't matter, since she was the one who decided to shout at him first for no good reason, and she had started it. But in actual fact he knew it was him who began it all, and she made complete sense. Screw his slow brain processes.

And lo-and-behold, here she was again, standing in front of him like it was the most natural thing in the world, except for the fact that her head was bent downwards and her cheeks flushed. Probably after watching his match against her school.

He didn't even know that she was the Rakuzan basketball team manager until Satsuki slapped his cheeks and told him to pay better attention to his old friend. She was in Kyoto already. Far, far away.

Why would she care about him, much less him about her? No wonder he had felt something strange after the match against Kise. When he yawned and told Kise that he was totally unbeatable, he felt a searing gaze on his back and a slight chill in the air.

So he wasn't imagining it after all. Stupid him. He already knew that he was wrong, but he was still acting dumbly in front of Kise and his team. She actually saw it. Urgh.

Why did he keep having to make _stupidly unforgivable_ mistakes?!

He actually dropped the basketballs right in front of her. Maybe she thought that he didn't want her there, and drooped her head a little more. But no, she was still standing there. So he decided to make a kind of little speech, _totally_ awkward for him, and he could see a ghost of a smile on her face.

Or did he imagine it? Probably. She would never smile for him ever again. Then he made up his mind. He had blown his last chance, but he wasn't going to again.

"Misaki. Urm… You know the both of us used to be super good friends or something? It sounds damn cheesy, but it's true. Not romantic or anything, but you know. We hung out a lot."

Shit. He messed up. That speech of his, originally intended to hint that he wanted to hang out and be with her again, was now totally ambiguous. Super embarrassing.

That would only make her even sadder, remind her of the painful memories which the both of them had learnt to put aside a long time ago.

 _The most painful thing in this world is bringing back the feeling you've learnt to forget._

Her head tilted up, her eyes wide, and she looked at him directly in the face. Not challenging, not intimidating, but simply hopeful. Or had he imagined that just to comfort himself that she actually still cared for him, was concerned about him?

He was never able to understand her body language, her beautiful movements, whatever was in that brain of hers.

He had messed up before. She was one in a thousand, one in a _million_ , and bothered with him for so long, never giving up no matter how troublesome or annoying he got.

She really deserved better than him, a better person who would look after her carefully, someone who would be responsible enough.

But being the selfish person he knew he was, he was going to get her back anyway. He wanted the both of them to be close by each other again.

Oh cripes. Now he sounded like that high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou carrot-like Shuutoku shooter. The one person he didn't want to become, ever.

He scratched his head yet again, glancing at her then ducking his head and looking away with a slight flush in his cheeks. Would she accept?

"Not that I miss you or anything, but… I've realised that I've been an asshole and all, bullshitting away about how nobody can beat me. I've known for a kind of, urm, long time, but I just didn't want to admit it to myself. So… cheerios?"

Yet another exceedingly lame statement. He lamely stuck out his palm, face completely red already. Did he mess up again?

Likely. She wouldn't want him back after such a long period of waiting and hoping. She probably gave up on him at the end of middle school after trying to help him since he had abandoned and torn her apart.

Anyway, she would have higher expectation than that, and that was probably a bloody crappy way to make it up to her.

"Daiki, I…"

She stared at his figure, cheeks a little pink, and her hands wrung together, a strange expression on her face. Then it changed into a perfect little smile.

 _She had called her by his first name. The first time in two years._

He held his breath, looking back at her, that little beautiful smile slightly crooked on her pale flushed face, with a small tooth jutting out. But it was perfect for him, absolutely beautiful, just the way he liked it.

And he hadn't seen her smile as beautifully as that for a whole two years.

The best part was that smile was meant for him.

His heart was ignited with just a tiny spark, enough to start a blazing fire.

 _I'll always think of you._

Was he forgiven?

To his utter surprise, she inched forward slightly and held out a delicate hand, not in the least bit trembling. He drew in his breath, admiring the smoothness of her skin, slightly pale, still as beautiful as ever.

"Daiki,

I've been waiting for you,… and you finally answered me."

He shook his head like it was no big deal, blushing like _crazy_ upon hearing those words. Why did she always make his world turn upside down and make it like a shoujo manga?

Urgh.

Then she lifted her palm up, gazing at him almost expectantly.

And he lifted his hand as well.

Both palms hitting each other softly.

 _And yes._

The two star-crossed friends were back together again.

 **X**

Momoi Satsuki could barely contain her squeals as she nearly suffocated Ryou Sakurai with a hard hug to vent her emotions, who was crouching down next to her, with reddened cheeks as well in an effort to try and forget whatever that happened before his eyes.

Seeing his usually grumpy and vulgar porn-magazine-reading teammate blushing heavily and looking embarrassed because of a girl was just too… overwhelming.

 _YES! Dai-chan is finally back together with Mi-chan!_

Dai-chan always had acted super weird around Mi-chan compared to regular girls. He had even proclaimed that he didn't like any girls with chests smaller than Satsuki's, which was super huge already so practically no one could match up to his expectations.

Here he was acting so shy and _adorkable_ , making up with his old crush!

Okay, maybe Dai-chan hadn't said anything about liking Mi-chan yet, but it was _super_ obvious!

A smile appeared on Satsuki's face as she felt like she was going to cry emotionally watching the two friends together, both blushing horribly and failing to cover that up, so happy to be back together.

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Satsuki followed her childhood friend to school, trying to speak to him about joining the basketball club, but was brushed off immediately._

" _Satsuki, I've told you so many times that I'll definitely join. I have loved basketball for my entire life. Stop pestering me!"_

" _But Dai-chan, you might forget… And you'll blame me for not reminding you!"_

" _I love it, so why would I forget?! I only forget what I don't frigging care about, like school and stuff like stupid exams."_

 _The ganguro huffed before entering his classroom – on time for once – and spotted only one empty seat next to someone who actually seemed pretty decent._

 _The other chairs were all beside weird-looking annoying dudes or smart alecks, and he headed for the "good" seat, dumping his stuff down, still yawning and stretching._

 _The girl beside him swiveled around from another classmate, gazing at him curiously. And Aomine Daiki stared back._

 _Her eyes were big and almond-shaped of midnight darkness, with long fluttery lashes and a red-lipped cutely-shaped mouth. Despite the redness, he somehow knew that they didn't have lipstick on them, and those lips looked entirely natural._

 _She was kind of short for a middle schooler, and had smooth indigo-coloured shoulder-length hair tied up in a high ponytail._

 _She was kind of beautiful in a natural kind of way, not that kind of fair-skinned, I-applied-lots-of-makeup, super-beautiful artificial, normal pretty. She was… How did one put it? Quietly beautiful?_

 _Aomine usually didn't describe people that nicely, but this girl was different._

 _He could sense it._

 _No, it wasn't only because she was quite good-looking and fairly pretty, and had nice features._

 _He could feel an odd sensation in his chest, his heartbeat growing stronger and getting faster just by looking at her._

 _Her eyes._

 _Her beautiful indigo eyes._

 _Dark, mysterious, piercing, and soft at the same time._

" _What's your name?"_

 _He abruptly asked, scratching his head awkwardly as he did so. It wasn't like him to be so friendly with a completely random stranger. He was known for his moody demeanor and slight unfriendliness._

 _She smiled at him. A beautiful, slightly crooked, mesmerising smile._

 _Absolutely perfect._

 _He actually stared at it for a little while._

" _Imayoshi Misaki. Yours?"_

" _Aomine Daiki. What club do you wanna join? I'm for basketball."_

" _Me too!"_

 _And that was how their friendship started, which slowly blossomed into something more._

When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew.

 _ **Flashback END**_

Had his feelings always been there from the start?

Definitely.

His cheeks turned a little redder as he looked at her face once again, as the girl in front of him lowered her head and twitched slightly, hands dropping to her sides, her hands twisting together.

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _4 friends stood together happily in front of a convenience store together, three sipping vanilla milkshakes, the other munching on peach-flavoured candy and attempting to hug a certain light blue haired boy._

 _Aomine continued glugging that milkshake of his quickly, as Kuroko savoured his slowly, quietly smiling a little. Misaki was heatedly arguing with Momoi about something that was sure to be super-trivial, Momoi pouting and crossing her arms, still attempting to hug Kuroko, Misaki gesturing frantically to convince her about something, scowling as her Momoi got distracted by her crush._

 _And then out of nowhere, a familiar blonde model appeared and wrapped his arms around Misaki, causing her to produce a little sound of shock and turn around, huffing in mock irritation._

 _A blue-haired ganguro twitched a little and had to restrain himself from dashing across and prying that damn annoying clingy guy off his friend, partially out of jealousy and also a sense of protectiveness._

 _But he knew that the model wouldn't wish to harm Misaki in any way, right…?_

" _Kise, don't shock me like that in the future…"_

" _Ne, Misacchi, you're not an old woman. You wouldn't get a heart attack just from that!"_

" _Stupid. You ought to be more considerate, Kise."_

 _A bespectacled green-haired tall boy came into view as he spoke, adjusting his glasses. Midorima Shintarou._

 _Kise started to tear up and was going to complain about how mean "Midorimacchi" was, as Aomine rolled his eyes._

" _What are YOU doing here, Midorima? I thought you thought treats were too unhealthy, apparently. Changed your mind? Finally coming to bloody sense."_

 _Midorima pushed up his glasses again and glinted at him._

" _I am merely stopping by to buy a bottle of mineral water. Kindly do not be so vulgar, and you sound like a hooligan. May you please hold my lucky item, Kuroko? You are to be trusted the most here."_

 _Misaki's eyes bulged as she spotted yet another large-sized lucky item of his being passed into Tetsu's hands. A huge bunch of ribbon bounded together._

 _What an odd person he was… She didn't know him personally, but essentially she had already sized Midorima Shintarou up as an odd, superstition-freak._

 _And yet another basketball player arrived._

 _Murasakibara Atsushi. First string Centre. Every time during practice, Misaki would always unfailingly see him dunk many basketballs into the net, and particularly envied his height._

 _He was munching on a large family-sized pack of chips, unsurprisingly, and waved to the 6 of them – while munching on chips happily – and then entered the store with a huge bag prepared._

 _Daiki whistled._

" _Hey, Misaki, he must be super rich to afford that huge amount of chips for so long, and be able to supply himself with snacks all the time. Do you think he'll lend me money for Horikita Mai-"_

 _Before he could say anything, Misaki had already stopped him with a hard nudge to his arm, and the ganguro winced in pain._

" _Don't be so perverted, Daiki. You should save money for more meaningful stuff and not looking at women all the time. Besides, Murasakibara-kun wouldn't give you cash. He will want to buy his snacks."_

 _That way the discussion had ended, and the six friends stood there relaxing._

 _A perfect way to spend a Friday evening together._

X

[A/N]: I did not compose the lyrics myself and although I would really like to take the credit for that, the lyrics are slightly adapted from _Ten Years After_ from .com, it's basically a really sad short song. Also, the other two lines about "it turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you…" are from Back to December by Taylor Swift. I used to like her so much, now she's just… Refer to her new song.

Aomine finally came out! Daiki refers to Aomine's self in the past, the basketball-loving player, while Aomine is the new, darker and less passionate part of him (the current version in Touou). The Interhigh has officially ended, and the Winter Cup will be starting soon with more exciting encounters.

Apologies if the lack of basketball action is upsetting. I will attempt to improve my writing skills on that particular subject, and look out for more interaction between Akashi and Misaki. Fluff is between Misaki and Akashi and possibly between two other mystery people that will have more appearances.


	14. Princess in School Uniform

[A/N]: Thank you **Dreams of the Forgotten, 15ls, kronexia and goody2 shoos** for adding this to your story subscription list, and thank you **Hope10032** for the review! Haha I share your thoughts on Taylor Swift and thanks once again for the feedback! Honestly I like both of them (Akashi more so actually) but your request has been (sort of) granted in this chapter! There would be different perspectives shown over here, to display the different things happening and the emotions of everyone. Please read and review!

X

 **AKASHI**

Two friends were staring at each other so perfectly, gazes locked on each other, smiling goofily, enjoying the presence of the other. There were two other people who were observing the scene, one bursting with excitement and happiness at the sight of her middle school friends making up, and the other begging his manager to stop strangling him, even if she didn't mean to.

What they all didn't notice was a fifth party. Completely unintentionally, he had stumbled onto the dramatic scene, and started to observe their actions. At first, he had only seen two friendly high schoolers smiling at each other and making basic conversation. After further observation, his sharp eyes began to notice their body language.

The way the girl twisted her hands behind her back, her hair swaying, her body twitching. The way the boy scratched his head uncomfortably, hair all messed up, legs moving and switching position.

His heterochromatic eyes flicked from one person to the next characteristically. He was used to this examination of humans – summing them up at one glance, understanding and piercing into their inner most thoughts and feelings, knowing wat they were going to do or what they had done.

That was why he possessed Emperor Eye. Every single thought, every single movement, every single plan – he could sense and see it all.

But there was just one person in the world that he couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend at all – a certain midnight-haired high schooler whom he had known since a long time ago. He had only taken the trouble to know her that year, but she was best friends with someone else beforehand.

Someone that was standing right before his eyes, smiling and blushing at her, nervously twitching. And she was looking right back, eyes filled with happiness for the first time, beautiful hair fluttering in the wind.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what the both of them were thinking, and what Momoi Satsuki and Ryou Sakurai were as well. Especially since Momoi was practically strangling Sakurai.

His expression changed a little, his eyes glinting, unnamed emotion hidden so well in him. It wasn't like him at all to feel so strongly for another human being, and that made his heart flutter a little, and at the same time, swell with a feeling he couldn't quite describe, that was distinctly uncomfortable.

Something about it disturbed his usual inner calm, his usual stoic demeanour, and made his feelings go completely haywire.

He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

Though she was happy, though it made him smile that she finally regained a friend from two years ago that she had lost, he still wasn't pleased.

He felt strangely possessive, annoyed that _his_ friend was with someone else and enjoying herself more than she would normally together with him. For some strange reason a little annoyance crept into his heart.

He turned his head back, and began walking back to the Rakuzan basketball team, going back to his typical routine of pointing out whatever flaws the players had and making their skills improve.

No matter how much they did get better, he found it a monotonous job, since the team had always won their matches whether they trained hard or not. She was the complete opposite, and believed in training the players to their best potential.

One of the rare people who believed in working for results and wasn't complacent.

He shouldn't get distracted so easily by her.

He frowned.

Why did she attract his attention like that?

Of all the human beings in the world, she had to be the one who made him utterly confused.

His late mother flashed through his mind. Kind, gentle, always smiling sweetly…

 _Just like a certain someone he had met._

Picking up a bottle of water, he drank thirstily and focused his eyes on the court, avoiding all other thought. Concentration was the key to avoiding failure, so that victory would come naturally to him.

He was sure that he would be able to figure out what she was doing to him, and stop it. Victory and success came naturally and easily to him, after all. Losing and inability to solve issues was unthinkable. He didn't know what that meant or felt like.

And he had to maintain that perfect demeanour and life of his.

Avoiding that little voice whispering at the back of his mind that his life was like a pottery piece, looking almost too perfect to be true, and cracks were beginning to appear in it.

 _In the Cracks that we find_

 _All those Flaws…_

FIVE MINUTES LATER

 **KISE**

Kise got up along with his senpai Kasamatsu Yukio and walked along the path to the subway station where they would travel home. His senpai was strangely quiet and seemed to be thinking about the outcome of the match. He, too, was curious about the results. Rakuzan winning was no surprise, but the way the Touou players were manipulated –

Every move they made, every single thing they did, was all examined thoroughly and put to use for Rakuzan's advantage. When they did a screen to score, a player from the opposing team would always appear and block the ball, before scoring for his team.

 _Were the Touou players so predictable and helpless without their ace?_

But Rakuzan had just barely scraped through the match as well. It was obvious that they were disoriented without their first-year captain directing them. Still, the point gap was utterly and obviously bigger than expected.

It was a little better than the outright thrashing Touou gave other schools, who completely gave up the moment they began playing the monstrous Power Forward and the manager. With skilled managers added into the Interhigh Final mix, things were slightly more exciting, but same old, same old. The outcome was predicted a long time ago.

Kise started to understand how his old mate from Teikou felt about the state of things. If an unlikely champion could stand up and earn success in the high school basketball circuit for a change –

Then he passed by a certain old school friend who was also strolling to the subway, on her phone, calling some people, quietly talking to them, completely absorbed in her conversation and taking out her wallet at the same time.

If Kise hadn't known her, and if not for her school uniform, he would have thought she was a wealthy, experienced lady preparing for work that day.

She was alone, for one of the first times in her life. Kise had seen many people surround her before, crowd around to protect her from everything in the world, but now there wasn't anyone. He felt a tiny urge to go up to her and help, but he resisted it.

There have been far too many knights in shining armour who had broken their promises to her.

Even if she didn't need any help in standing up for herself, for anything that she did, people just regarded her as their _hime_ , their princess, someone they had to protect. She had always been thought as small, fragile and somebody that had to be taken care of.

Maybe it was her eyes, those midnight orbs that hid pain, that had that effect. She had a reputation for hiding any emotion she might have that would negatively affect herself or anyone around her.

Images flashed through his head, one after another. A megane with a slightly darker shade of hair than her, now a basketball team captain. Then a tanned, dark-haired boy who had broken everything that had been once important to him and her.

Finally, a shadow of two different people with similar personalities, once past and one present, only partially helping her make her way through the darkness, before leaving for another new world, a new school, leaving her behind.

Sometimes Kise felt the need to assist her again, to be her protector, but he knew he would turn out like the others, break all his promises, break her heart, break her soul. Besides, he had the feeling that someone else was doing the job of taking care of her already.

He met the eyes of a redhead, those mismatched eyes piercing into his soul. Then the blonde turned away, silently hoping that he would be able to do something different from the rest of them.

For the first time in his life, he prayed for Imayoshi Misaki, a girl who had never needed any luck in the past.

 **MISAKI**

She jolted as the traffic light abruptly turned red in the junction in front of her, and her feet were already on the road. Misaki was never one to waste chances or time, and she had wanted to cross the road before the light turned red, and now she was stuck in a precarious situation.

Before anything bad could happen and before she could react, she felt an arm pull her back, her body jerking slightly, her nose filled with a lemony scent. Instinctively she recognised the feel of the boy. The same feel as one that she had felt before, sitting in a subway train, sleeping on.

Instinctively, she closed her eyes and didn't feel as shocked anymore. There was a sense of security there, something she hadn't felt for almost her whole life.

Her childhood was happy until she turned six, and that was when Mother and Father began verbally abusing her and Shouichi. Using arrows to poke into their self esteem and self worth, making them feel useless. Then Shouichi changed into a complete stranger, before Daiki turned awful. Sure, he had changed a little for the good, but things were different from before.

Now she felt safe in this person's arms, and somehow she never wanted him to let go of her, to let him hold her in his arms forever, but she knew she needed to get up and walk on her own.

"Misaki, please be more careful next time."

Misaki stood up and turned around to face a multicolour-eyed redhead and met his eyes. They weren't as piercing as she had remembered them to be. For once, they looked soft and tender, caring, as if worrying for her safety…

Then she frowned heavily and shook her head to clear any remaining thoughts she might have left.

 _No one was going to look out for you anymore, Misaki. Face it._

 _Urgh, what was wrong with me?_

The boy was still looking at her carefully, as if dissecting her feelings into bits and pieces, analysing her as if she were a specimen, and he were the scientist. She subconsciously brushed air off her jacket, and tried to make her appearance more presentable. Her hair was all messed up, and she felt a tad silly as her heart beat slightly faster, when he smiled at her.

A true, genuine smile. For the first time ever.

He had _smiled_ at her.

And she was the cause.

She attempted to cast away her feelings, and smiled back at him. Not her typical little cheery smile she used to make others feel happy, but something different.

She really couldn't help it. It came naturally.

"Thank you, Akashi-kun. I will be more aware of that."

Then she started walking again, slightly unwilling to leave the boy behind her, as her footsteps slowed down significantly.

"Wait."

She turned around after she crossed the road, and a gentle hand caught at her wrist tenderly.

 _What smooth skin…_

"Do you want to come over to my dorm to discuss strategies?"

She blinked at the abrupt invitation, and brushed her hair off her face self-consciously while smiling goofily and smiling.

"Okay. Thanks for reminding me that we have to plan for the future trainings. I nearly forgot!"

 **KISE**

He walked along the subway underground after getting out at his stop, barely noticing where he was walking at all, preoccupied with another matter, hair and face all covered so that no crazed fangirl or excited reporter would recognise him. Anyway, he looked so serious that anyone who didn't know him well wouldn't recognise Kise.

Tapping his card, he caught sight of a woman smiling at the man beside her, and their hands were linked, bodies close to each other. Couple or more likely, they were dating.

That smile. Everything went back to the topic he was thinking about.

 _Her smile wasn't just meant for Aominecchi anymore._

Kise didn't usually eavesdrop or sneak a peek at others' conversations, but when he passed the both of them by he couldn't help but look. With his stoic senpai gone, there was nothing to lose, except a bashing by Akashicchi if he got found out.

Alright, he didn't get found out, but he honestly regretted looking at whatever had happened.

The way Misacchi smiled at him. The only person she used to smile at that way, besides her brother, was Aominecchi. The boy who had brought happiness into her life, when she was shrouded in the dark, dark black.

The boy who had come and rescued her with his silliness and passion for basketball.

Kise longed for Misacchi to smile at him like that, but she never did. It took someone special to make her smile in that particular way of hers. Not her typical happy, big smile that she gave everyone on a daily basis. There was a different quality about it.

Her lips were closed, curved in a beautiful little way upward, the angle not as big as usual, but it seemed much sweeter. For once, her eyes smiled at the serious red-haired boy in front of her, lashes fluttering gently.

It was the first time Kise had seen her smile like that at someone in two years. Beforehand right after she stopped smiling, she was too broken to even muster a basic grin at people who passed her by.

Then she slowly gained her personality back, but Kise sensed something different about the smiles she gave most people. They had an almost fake quality. Artificial.

Then this happened that changed everything.

 _How did this happen?_

It wasn't just Aominecchi anymore.

It was Akashicchi as well.

Well, after the two old friends from middle school had made up, if Aominecchi ever heard about it, he wasn't going to be happy.

The blue-haired boy was known to be downright possessive of the people whom he was close to. In middle school, when Haizaki Shougo had tried to make a move on his old friend, he had immediately sprung up from his seat and grabbed the collar of Haizaki's neck, threatening to "murder him", even if Misacchi didn't need any help at all.

But Aominecchi was far in Tokyo and had little chance to interact with her, while she and Akashicchi were seeing each other every single day, at the dormitories, at competitions, at club practices, at class – a close relationship was bound to be formed, even if the persons in question were closed-up, reluctant partners.

After all, both of them rarely showed their true inner self to others.

And that little light in Akashicchi's eyes had revealed many things to Kise Ryouta. Akashicchi didn't look out for other people at all, with her being the only exception. And Misaki didn't trust lots of friends thoroughly, especially those she had just met.

The only ones she actually poured her heart out to were Aominecchi, Momocchi and maybe Kurokocchi. But according to conversations he had with her…

Maybe Akashicchi was starting to have a place in her heart as well.

 **AOMINE**

"Ey, Dai-chan! You and Mi-chan have finally made up after an eternity… When are you going to confess to her? Hurry up Dai-chan, she might be take by someone else before you know it~"

His childhood friend persistently chattered to him on the subway back to Touou Gakuen, still hugging Ryou Sakurai like he was a pillow, slowly suffocating him, even if it was completely unintentional, Ryou gasping and asking Satsuki to let go of him.

Aomine huffed and turned to face Satsuki. Would she give her a little space? The moment he made up with Misaki, she had decided to act as matchmaker all over again, but doubly annoying this time.

Over the past few minutes, she had crammed everything into countless sentences, talking about stupid things like "they were meant to be" and "distance wouldn't affect your relationship".

Sure, Satsuki knew he had feelings for the midnight-haired girl, but she didn't have to talk about everything concerning _that_ all at once right after they had just recently become friends all over again.

Especially since Imayoshi Shouichi was death glaring at them, particularly him, for some strange unknown reason, and Wakamatsu, that baka, was scowling. Aomine bet he was jealous.

Distance _did_ pose a problem. They had exchanged phone numbers – Misaki had changed hers after getting over a dozen calls from Ryouta daily in second year before changing it to something else again– and promised to meet every week like she did with Satsuki, but how would anything ever happen?

Sometimes she would be too busy to pop by Tokyo, sometimes he or Satsuki would be busy doing something else, and with that pink-haired aho, nothing would ever develop between the two of them besides friendship. Aomine did want them to have something special, like the both of them had in second year. A relationship only he and Misaki could understand.

It was kind of impossible, after all…

 _Shit this._

Aomine gazed angrily at the seat across him, using his first to punch the solid plastic structure beside his seat. The elderly lady occupying the seat across him raised her eyebrows in shock, and gasped a little, before subtly moving to the seat on her right which was empty.

He could hear a little high-pitched giggle coming out of Satsuki's mouth as she tried to suppress her obvious laughter.

Everything was bloody stupid today after Misaki left. The indigo-eyed girl _always_ wreaked havoc on whatever he did. Satsuki was really getting more and more annoying by the day.

"Frigging shut up, Satsuki."

He tried to say it under his breath, but it still came out as kind of loud, with almost everyone within five metres of him hearing what he said. Stoic working folk glared at him before continuing to stare at their phones.

Hearing it, the old woman looked at him like she was going to give him a lecture, before standing up and moving further away.

Aomine heard yet another chuckle. No, a few chuckles.

The source of those was kind of obvious.

He just gave up, and decided to try and read some manga for a change, before returning to the 'notes' section on his phone.

After meeting Misaki, Aomine decided attending basketball practices was a must. Anyway, he would _try_ to. Satsuki would always be there to nag the pants off him.

Slowly, he typed a few sentences in.

 _Go for practice even if that baka Wakamatsu acts like a baka again_

 _Meet Misaki every… Sunday?_

 _Buy less Horikita Mai-chan_

Then he deleted the last option. Nah, too hard. Besides, if he ever slowed down, Satsuki and Misaki would come and check his temperature, thinking he had a fever.

He smiled at the ceiling of the train carriage.

 _Thank you, Interhigh._

 _I got to see Misaki again and make up._

Maybe he wouldn't make any stupid mistakes anymore.

 **MOMOI**

Casually flicking through her notes on the different players as she got off the train, Momoi Satsuki smiled to herself. Though Touou's every movement had been kind of analysed by Mi-chan, Rakuzan's victory wasn't exactly effortless. She and her friend had a well-fought battle. Rakuzan had the Uncrowned Kings, too, which was advantageous.

Then she spotted a _huge_ giant with purple hair, munching on some Maiu-Bo, muttering to himself as he walked. Her eyes widened, and her footsteps quickened to catch up with him.

After all, there was only one purple-haired giant taller than 2m, who was a basketball player and wore a Yousen jacket.

"MUKKUN~"

Recognising her voice, Murasakibara Atsushi turned around and grunted at the arrival of his old manager. Beside him was a slick-haired, somewhat good looking teammate. Her brain processed everything that was before her. _Himuro Tatsuya. Height… Weight…_

Upon detecting Momoi's intense gaze, Murasakibara instantly shoved his startled friend behind him, out of sight, and scowled, before speaking slowly.

"Sa-chin, don't tell me you're here to analyse our statistics and spy on Yousen…"

Momoi pouted. Mukkun still didn't trust her at _all._

"Ne, Mukkun, don't you trust me? I'm just passing by. I didn't even follow you… Did you see the Interhigh final between Touou and Rakuzan? Rakuzan won, of course, but Misaki and I had a good fight~"

"Sa-chin, I didn't, me and Muro-chin are here to go to Akita for training… Let me eat my Maiu-Bo in peace, Sa-chin."

 _Muro-chin?_ Oh, that would be Himuro Tatsuya.

The aforementioned high schooler walked out from Murasakibara's back and smiled at Satsuki with his usual slightly flirtatious style.

Himuro always radiated an aura of mystery around him, attracting girls to fangirl over him and hang around him, and thus during Valentine's Day, his table was always stacked with various assorted goodies. And this time, he planned to use the same tactic with the Touou manager.

Still, Momoi was trying to talk to her middle school friend, completely ignoring whatever Himuro was doing, only slightly eyeing him to gather his data. Himuro frowned. Whatever Momoi was doing, he wasn't used to it.

Suddenly, Momoi felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned to face a slightly smiling Himuro.

"Momoi-san, do you know who Kagami Taiga is?"

That name stopped her in her tracks, and caused her to peer at Himuro curiously.

"How… how do you know Kagami-kun? Yeah, the Touou team – the one I am the manager of – played against his school before. He plays in Seirin, and is my middle school friend's current teammate. He just came back from America a few months ago… Why do you want to know whether I know him?"

The black-haired boy just smiled at her mysteriously, with that Mona Lisa expression of his.

"Taiga's… kind of my acquaintance. I am also from America, and I just got back as well. I met him there and we got to know each other because both of us were Japanese there, one of the only ones. It's nice to know he's still playing basketball. By the way, who is that friend of yours whom you were talking about…?"

From a little glint in Himuro's eyes, Momoi could tell that Kagami was a little more than a simple acquaintance that he had met in a foreign country. Besides, he called Kagami by his first name Taiga. They definitely had been close. Then why did they lose contact with each other?

A scene similar to that from a Korean drama played out in her head, and then she dismissed it quickly. Maybe they had just separated or moved houses in America and forgot about each other for a while. Still…

"Kuroko Tetsuya from Seirin High School. Though since your school is in Akita, you might not be able to play against Seirin unless both of you get into Nationals…"

 _And Touou would stop Seirin from doing so._

"Right. Thank you."

Himuro nudged Murasakibara, who was still munching on his snack, finishing it and slowly taking another packet out from his bag.

Momoi resisted the urge to take the whole bunch of unhealthy goodies away from him, since she knew snacks drove the giant to play basketball and essentially, survive on a daily basis.

The last time she had tried to pry his snacks off him and succeeded in first year, Murasakibara had spent the entire day sulking and complaining to everyone that he had no snacks, declaring to the entire school every five seconds that "Sa-chin was the most irritating in the world" and refusing to practise at all, sitting on the bench at the side of the courts throughout.

But honestly, she reckoned he might get diabetes or something by the time he graduated from university or started working.

Momoi smiled at the two of them, and prepared to get off as she had to get off at the next stop.

"Wait!"

She turned around to find Himuro frantically speaking to get her attention.

"Imayoshi Misaki… She's your team captain's sister, right? Apparently she was from Teikou as well… So why did she go to Rakuzan when her brother is in Touou as captain now?"

Momoi frowned. Why that question? Too personal. Misaki would never answer that question from anyone unless it was from her or Tetsu-kun personally, probably.

"I can't really tell you the reason since it's really personal. I'm sorry, and goodbye."

Curtly, she walked off as the train doors opened, leaving an aghast Himuro standing behind her.

 _What an annoyingly curious Yousen player. Apparently he's really good. Seems like when Touou plays Yousen, there'll be more trouble besides Mukkun. Luckily I got his stats._

 _After all, stats can help people win._

 _It's like winning half the battle already._

 **X**

I wished to focus more on the Yousen team, and introduce the side characters properly, so here they are! Sadly the Shuutoku players aren't coming up very soon, and likely they'll only interact with Misaki or the others via competitions or chance encounters.

More fluffy romance coming up between Misaki, Akashi and Aomine and maybe more mystery people!


	15. Akashi Seijuurou

[A/N]: Thank you **Howling Harmony, Yamidori, mendi94** and **LegitimateLostGirl** for adding this to your story subscription list! Thank you **Guest** for the review haha it encouraged me because it was the first review I've had in quite a long time! I really appreciate having some kind of feedback to my writing. No matter whether it's good or bad just say what you honestly feel about my story so I can improve. Please read and review! Some interesting basketball action and training will be coming up.

X

Misaki looked at her calendar, frowning and spinning a pen. The Interhigh was officially over and Rakuzan had clinched first place, but she didn't feel satisfied in any way. They had won because of the absence of the other schools' aces and good players. Winter Cup was going to include more schools, and was tougher.

Winter Cup preliminaries were coming in early November. Finals were taking place late December and early January. It was already late August five days to November, and they had better buck up.

A smirk flashed across her face.

There was one solution that could make everything better. Everything might be upped by this.

Taking up her phone, Misaki decided to call Kantoku.

"Kantoku, sorry to bother you on a Saturday… But may we organise a… Yes, I've looked up some of the venues online and I've come up with a few… We can use the club funds, since the ones chosen aren't very expensive and suitable for our purposes… The date? Um, I'm not sure, but I'll check the availability and work around there… Thank you… Goodbye!"

She hung up, satisfied, and decided to start emailing a few companies to make her vision a reality. It was going to be exhausting as a club manager who had to take care of the little details, but it was worth it.

Rakuzan was going to have lots of fun. Well, mostly her.

Then the door creaked, and as Misaki was typing on her laptop, a familiar figure entered the room. From the pattern of his footsteps and the atmosphere change, she could tell who is was already.

"Akashi-kun, I'm organising a training camp for Rakuzan to up their game, and prepare for the Winter Cup. What activities do you suggest to hold?"

Misaki looked up to find the redhead coming closer, and he looked at the laptop curiously, then faced her.

"Misaki, that's quite a good idea. Well, now I don't have lots of ideas now, so please do as you like. After you have completed the schedule, please let me see it. Thank you."

Despite the business-like words, Misaki wasn't fooled. She stared at Akashi Seijuurou.

For the second time ever, he was actually smiling at her. Not that slightly superior smile that he had flashed last time he did, but a kind smile, a smile that contained more than politeness. It was a smile from a friend. A good friend that trusted you.

Misaki's heart fluttered a little before she suppressed her feelings and smiled back.

Again, she couldn't help the natural feeling that came over her, but she resisted blushing as much as she could.

"Thanks, Akashi-kun. But… Urm, I'm not really good at doing this kind of formal thing because sometimes I come off as impolite in emails and writing. May you help me?"

With the same smile, Akashi moved towards her, and guided her hand on the mouse toward the email that she had just drafted out.

His expression changed a bit as he read the words on the screen.

"This certainly seems polite enough for me, at least. I suppose if you really think you are not polite enough, you may ask the other team members or even Kantoku, but they might not be of a great help…"

She smiled at the hidden, subtle meaning behind those words. Hayama and Eikichi might be too coarse and informal in their language, while Mibuchi was just a little too odd for her liking. He might ask the person in-charge for their number or something. And Coach… Nah. That would be very odd.

"Well… Since it's fine for you, then I shall be sending it out."

She clicked the 'send' button and there the email went.

All her self-confidence came back to her. With Akashi as the heir of a big company, he would know how to write letters and mails the best among the people she knew.

Their eyes met as she looked up, and a sort of exchange went between them. Both of their eyes could speak.

"Do you need further help in the other emails? I can assist you."

Though she didn't actually require help at all, she wanted to spend more time with him.

"Kind of… That would be good. Thank you!"

Both of them squeezed in that little chair that Misaki had been sitting on, and looked at the computer together, drafting out email after email before sending them, talking and occasionally smiling at each other.

As if they were childhood friends, and had known each other for centuries.

 **TIME SKIP**

Akashi Seijuurou yawned a little as he locked his dormitory room and made his way to the basketball club room. Misaki was going to announce the details of the camp there. Though it wasn't a ritual for Rakuzan to have a camp every year, the manager usually would conduct one or two when they were in charge.

Rakuzan camps were quite unique. Usually only the manager and the team would be present without the coach bothering about what they were doing. They could be, in their own words, "trusted to take care of themselves". Still, with the manager this year being a _girl_ , things might be different…

He was quite looking forward to it.

As Akashi walked to the room, he encountered Hayama and Mibuchi who were talking loudly – at least for one of them – before they saw him and stopped immediately. Mibuchi yawned casually, while Hayama's eyes grew big, too scared to react in any way.

Together they reached the club room, with the members gathered and assembled there in neat rows, Misaki standing in front. Her hair was combed nicely, tied up in a high ponytail, and her school uniform and club jacket on. She was concentrating hard on the piece of paper she was holding, evident from the look on her face.

"Rakuzan will be having a camp during the end of summer vacation next week before the next term starts. Winter Cup is coming soon, and we need to get better in order to win the Winter Cup once again.

We'll be lodging at Nanase Lodgings, a place near some mountain areas so we can train there. There'll be good facilities for the price that they gave, and we chose it since it is kind of cheap… Anyway, just remember this schedule and carry it with you. It has a packing list, what we're going to do…"

Hayama, upon getting the sheet of paper, almost threw up his breakfast. They had to get up at 5am every single day, get ready by 5.30, and then exercise all the way to lunch.

And they only finished training at 7pm every day, with some light exercises after dinner as well. This gave him the shudders. He didn't have a camp before, and it was going to be torture.

Akashi looked at the schedule somewhat curiously. The reason for training in the mountains mystified him a little, but he could tell why Misaki wanted them to run in such rocky terrain. As long as no one fell sick or got into any trouble it would be alright he supposed…

He glanced at her, her eyes wandering over the players in observation, narrow and piercing. Misaki, always the analyst.

Now, just what is she planning?

 **X**

Misaki smiled to herself as she started to nod off in a bus on the way to the training camp site. It was only 8am and the team had managed to board a train, transfer two times, and take two buses in a row.

They wanted an early start to the day, after all. Beside her was Akashi Seijuurou. For once, she didn't want Coach coming to observe. She wished to surprise him with the Rakuzan team's improvements.

As she started to sleep in the bus, Akashi looked at her concernedly, then pushed her body gently onto his and let her lean on him. She looked so exhausted.

He knew she had been staying up late at night just to plan this camp, and last night she had texted him at around 1am just to confirm some minor details. She was a different kind of manager than the normal ones that just sorted out the logistics.

He frowned at Hayama and Eikichi who were arguing about something trivial, as usual.

"Both of you, stop it. Your manager is resting and she needs to get ample sleep if she has to organise the camp properly. If you don't rest as well, you'll be tired, and if you continue I may consider giving a certain two players extra training. Perhaps double the amount Misaki is planning..."

Both of them gulped nervously at the mention of double training, and stopped arguing instantly. Hayama peered curiously at his first year captain. The manner of his speech was as stiff and unyielding as usual, but Hayama could tell he was concerned about Misaki.

That was highly unusual for the typically emotionless captain that he knew. Recently he had started to show more feelings for the people around him, especially her. And since when did he care about the team's well being unless it was during matches?

He was acting odder and odder. Hayama could vaguely guess the reason behind it, and relished it. Still, he didn't want to have a less focused captain.

As much as he had pride as a senpai, he didn't mind having a younger captain as long as he did his job well. Akashi was getting less concentrated in his job as captain, and Hayama Kotaro didn't like that at all.

If Hayama had a more serious personality, he would definitely have intervened and talked to the person in question, but he didn't.

He glanced at his teammate nearby who appeared to be thinking the exact same thing as he crunched on his chips, seemingly uncaring. As far as he knew, Mibuchi was mildly irritated by his captain's behaviour from the twitching of his eyes, and Mayuzumi seemed nonchalant as usual, but with a slight difference in his usual behaviour.

 _Akashi-san..._

Anyway Misaki was a cool manager that knew how to take care of the team and she would probably make up for what Akashi was lacking in, if he ever made a single mistake in whatever he was doing...

The team would win the Winter Cup anyway without trouble even if Akashi went slightly wonky.

Losing was unimaginable to him. Winning was always natural.

Looking hard at the sleeping manager with her head perched on his captain's torso and his hand touching her hair slightly, occasionally stroking the long indigo strands, Hayama grinned and nudged his partner, who almost threw up some of his chips at the sight.

Perhaps it was time for Akashi Seijuurou to get a little less serious about things. Would he still be a good captain?

Hayama really hoped so.

 **TIME SKIP**

"As you know, Winter Cup is coming. I've said it many times and I'm going to say it again. Don't get complacent about big tournaments like these. This time Akashi's going to play, and so are the powerful Yousen and Touou aces that sat out during the Interhigh. So we're not going to have a greater advantage over everyone else.

"The objective of this camp is to build your stamina. Some of you, as you know very well yourselves, tend to tire easily during long and difficult matches. What happens if we play a school like Yousen which specialises in defence? Will you run out of steam the moment your ball gets stolen? How are you going to last?

"And for offensive teams as well, like Touou. Are you going to let them take the ball as they please, or not? Will you have the ability to run, slip away from them, to stop them from taking control?

"There're going to be long, awful games that seem never-ending. More schools are competing, and though we don't need to participate in the preliminary matches since we won the Interhigh, teams we're facing in the first few rounds will be hard, and they will have the will to survive – ignore that unintentional pun please, and Hayama stop laughing –

"So don't ever think of not giving your all in this week's camp, and put in your everything. Train to get better, to get stronger, to last this Winter Cup."

Misaki took in a deep breath after her long speech and plopped down onto her chair as Akashi started dishing out orders to start unpacking and getting ready for later. It was only 1pm after their lunch and they had barely arrived at Nanase Lodgings, before getting instructions to begin training after a short break.

Being the only girl, Misaki could have her own room and an entire bathroom to herself, and before long she was changed into sportswear and ready to start training.

Coach was absent, so she could guess that the players were having way too much fun with no discipline master. But there was still a fearsome captain, so maybe they could be kept in line, especially Hayama and some of the others…

She began walking down the corridors making sure the boys were not fooling around and actually doing their own self warm-up exercises.

As expected, a few weren't doing their exercises as they were supposed to and in fact doing extremely stupid things, so dumb that Misaki had to hide her laughter.

When she burst into Hayama and Mibuchi's room, the snaggle-toothed blonde was actually bare-chested and waving his shirt with his hands triumphantly for a reason she didn't bear thinking about, while Mibuchi just sat on the bed trying to type on his phone, not paying attention to whatever he was saying and slightly sulking.

Misaki wanted to start choking on her own suppressed giggles when Hayama spotted her, and he started stuttering, anxiously trying to use his arms to cover his completely exposed upper torso as best as he could.

Mibuchi just glanced at her and told Hayama, very casually, that seeing him half-naked "didn't matter since Mi-chan is our manager". That line just made his teammate even more terrified and worried, as he attempted to grab Mibuchi in order to block Misaki's view of him.

"Okay, it's fine Hayama-kun, I won't see… your… Nevermind! Just do your warm-ups and Mi… Mibuchi don't be… be too lazy…"

She held up her hands in mock defeat and staggered out of the room, before holding her stomach as she let loose her giggles. Hayama was always the cure to any worries she had, even if he did get a little extreme sometimes.

Continuing to check the other rooms, she felt a bit curious as she approached the captain's dormitory. Mayuzumi was staying with him, and though Akashi was considered superior in terms of ranking, Mayuzumi was his senpai after all.

What if Akashi didn't give him enough respect?

Misaki frowned and opened the door to see the both of them doing their exercises in complete silence, and absolutely focused. She heaved a sigh of relief, even though the intensity of their exercises scared her a little.

 _Who would be so focused and serious?!_

The third year reminded her a little of Tetsu, though he seemed a little more intense and drawn-back from the rest of the players than the blue-haired boy in Seirin. Having him as a senior was odd.

As she was deep in thought, Akashi spoke suddenly, waking her up.

"Misaki, it's nice to see that you're checking on the players. Please continue, and then we'll assemble at the basketball court at around 1.30pm. Thank you."

Though his words were phrased politely enough, they carried a clear message to her.

 _Kindly get out and stop disturbing the two of us since we're doing our warm-ups perfectly well._

Her face remained impassive as she nodded and spoke before closing the door a little louder than she would, normally.

"Goodbye, Akashi-kun and Mayuzumi-senpai. See you at the court."

She didn't show it on her facial expression, but her heart was hurting. Hurting so bad.

Why did Akashi have to be so… so nonchalant towards her? On the bus, he was so friendly and kind to her. Maybe that was it. He thought it was a mistake, a mistake for showing affection towards his manager.

Why was she feeling like this? Akashi was always that detached kind of person. It wasn't like she expected him to be warm and friendly.

Was it just mere professionalism or was it that he didn't feel anything for her, as she was afraid?

 _You're overthinking it, Misaki._

Misaki clenched her hands in frustration and walked off to her room, exasperated by Akashi's queer behaviour.

 **AKASHI**

Akashi looked at the closed door behind him a bit regretfully. He was so cold to Misaki just now and he was feeling a bit guilty about it. She was nice to him and treated him like a normal human being, and she meant so much to him, so why was he so horrid to her?

Then he remembered the 18-year old that was beside him, looking at him curiously. He clenched his jaw tightly. Mayuzumi made him act to coldly to the one he regarded as precious in that one school where he was all alone.

No, it wasn't only Mayuzumi. He needed to watch how he was acting in front of his team so ensure that they didn't know about what he thought about the Rakuzan basketball team's manager. His mask was slipping gradually because of _her_ , and something must be done about it.

Akashi had seen Hayama and Mibuchi in the bus and that confirmed his little fears. Mayuzumi was his roommate so he needed to be extra aware of his actions, especially because the third year was unusually observant, just like his old teammate from Teikou.

Determined, Akashi resumed his warm-ups with a new vigour and energy. Being good at hiding all his feelings, he was sure he would be able to manage this trouble that was looming before him. It just took a little hard-heartedness and determination.

 **TIME SKIP**

The Rakuzan players were starting to huff and puff loudly as Akashi ordered them to do an extra round of running around the lodgings because of a little laziness displayed by one of the players, but not daring to complain under the eye of the strict captain – who was also running alongside them.

Misaki stood beside the starting point of those rounds holding a mini notebook taking down notes about each individual player and completely unsmiling in complete dissatisfaction at the state of her team.

She was not ungrateful for this group of talented players – it was just that their attitudes pissed her off a bit. They were all running a little harder than usual but still – still, it wasn't their all.

Then a good idea popped into her head, and she smiled to herself in content, almost smirking as she watched Eikichi run to the ending point with a big pant, starting to gulp down water frantically to ease his aching body.

"Now we're going to do 1-on-1s. Since you're tired, I hope you'll be able to manage this, facing your own teammates."

As the Rakuzan team groaned, Misaki began pairing the players up, assigning the ones who matched well. The players who were mostly focused on attacking went with the players who were especially good at defense

There was no time to be conceited and all high-and-mighty when they were going to face dangerous opponents.

 _Urgh, why did my school have to be so difficult?_

She watched as the teammates started playing, eyeing each other narrowly. Hayama, always the lively one, began trying to make the heavily-built guy across him mad, which only resulted in his opponent shooting back insults.

Ack, they only play so well because of the personal grudges they hold against each other…

At least they were a good team, even with their weird habits and eccentric behaviour, and all those faults they possessed… Rakuzan was strong and united. The five they had as starters were the best the school ever had.

 **X**

Yawning, Misaki sat down on her bed heavily as she dried her hair. She was exhausted from the day's practices – with no Kantoku to help her to keep Rakuzan in check, things were definitely more tiring than before.

She had been awake for about 16 hours, and none of those hours was relaxing. As the clock ticked, Misaki smiled as it hit 9pm. Two or more hours to go…

Just as she was putting down her notebook and pen, Akashi burst into the room, her calm atmosphere rudely shattered with a loud yelling Eikichi at the back complaining about something or other, and a silent Mayuzumi which she barely managed to notice.

The captain had a look of extreme annoyance on his face – thankfully not directed towards her, but the noisy baka behind him – and a slight apologetic gaze directed towards her hidden within those piercing eyes. However, Akashi Seijuurou kept his calm in that hellish situation, as always.

"Misaki, sorry to disturb you at such a late time, but Nebuya here has a slight… problem with his teeth, so may he borrow your dental floss and mini toothbrush that is used to clean corners of the mouth? We'll buy you a new one, naturally, since sharing is very unhygienic, especially with _some_ people."

Did Akashi just try and _burn_ Eikichi?

Misaki blinked repeatedly in shock, before recovering and nodding. Walking to take the things Eikichi needed, she smiled to herself. Akashi was getting slightly less stiff with the teammates around him, and still had a captain-like aura around him.

Handing it to Akashi, she noticed Mayuzumi with a strange expression on his face. As if he were frowning.

 _But Mayuzumi never makes any noticeable expression…_

Did it have something to do with Akashi's recent changes and queer behaviour? He was looking at her pretty intensely, and didn't seem to realise the manager was peering right back at him.

Flustered, Misaki bade goodbye to the trio and shut the door softly after them, going back to her laptop which she had been on before bathing. Staring at the bright screen and squinting tiredly, she gave up and decided to examine the notes she took that morning instead.

After continuous checking and interpreting of the players' stats, Misaki yawned for about ten seconds consecutively and decided that enough was enough. She couldn't overstrain herself or else she wouldn't be able to get up tomorrow. Maybe a walk in the cool night air would do the trick...

Getting out of her stuffy dormitory, Misaki smiled to herself as she breathed in the cool refreshing air, strolling down the corridor and out of the dorm area, but still within the boundaries of the lodgings. Luckily she hadn't changed into pyjamas yet, or else... well, she would have caught a cold by now.

Gazing at the night scenery before her, with no annoyingly bright lights in front... Wait, why was there a big white van approaching the lodgings?

Misaki watched curiously as the bus came to a halt, and some big sized high schoolers came out, chattering and laughing loudly. All dressed in an extremely recognisable uniform that she had seen at least a million times.

A hideously neon orange jacket and uniform, and one of the students had green hair, which made him look like a perfect carrot. The rest just seemed like baby carrots without their stalks. Anyway, they just looked utterly... well, let's just say that their uniform just wasn't the coolest or prettiest in Japan.

 _What on earth was Shuutoku doing here?_

Nanase Lodgings was located in a distant part of a little town located somewhere between Kyoto and Tokyo, but a little closer to where Rakuzan was, and Misaki was curious about why they journeyed so far here, when there were plenty of nice facilities to train in Tokyo.

Were they holding a training camp as well?

Misaki sighed as she recognised Midorima Shintarou and his friend Takao Kazunari, the latter sprinting towards where she was standing and shouting excitedly to the carrot like teen behind him, with Midorima scolding him loudly and tiredly.

Now, this was an unwelcome intrusion into Rakuzan's privacy. The last thing Misaki wanted was for the players to spy on Rakuzan and start collecting their data.

Except it would be a good chance to start gathering more information on the Shuutoku players, since Rakuzan rarely got to play them in recent years.

Rushing out in the cold air, she smiled as Takao Kazunari made his way towards her, dragging a loudly complaining Midorima towards her as well, eyes bright.

"MI-CHAN! I haven't seen you in so long~ I can't believe we met at this deserted spot~ Why would Rakuzan come here? They're rich right, so they have lots of money to spend unlike our school, who needs to find budget places to stay for camp every year~"

"Takao, don't talk nonsense! Shuutoku just decided to come here because this place has nice facilities and is conveniently located near our school. Do not make out school sound like a newly built place running on a low-budget that is desperate for training camp locations, when we are clearly not like that."

"Ne, Shin-chan, you know it isn't true. Kantoku said we came cos it's cheap, though we have to travel super far from school. And it's in the middle of mountains and forests and whatnot..."

"TAKAO!"

Misaki turned around and with her back facing them, and began to giggle. The pair's exchange reminded her of Daiki and Satsuki, but Midorima was a lot politer and stiffer than the lanky ganguro.

"Anyway, Misaki, is Rakuzan having a camp here as well? Shuutoku has a long lasting tradition of having camps in between competitions, and Rakuzan, to my knowledge, has irregular ones. And if you can afford a better place nearer to Kyoto, why here?"

She stiffened a little. Midorima sounded slightly hostile. Well, if Shuutoku had regular camps, that explained it. Rakuzan to him was an exceedingly rich school and had no reason to go to an obscure training site far away.

Maybe he was just merely suspicious that her school wanted to sort of spy on their potential opponents.

Which was what she had exactly planned to do the exact moment she noticed the Shuutoku uniforms.

"Midorima-kun, it's nothing like that... we're surprised to see you as well. We decided to hold a camp to improve the team's abilities before the Winter Cup, and to not stop progressing. Maybe this can help the schools as well..."

Plans were rapidly forming in her mind, and at the same time midnight eyes were darting to and fro from the two tall teenagers standing before her, analysing their physical statistics and information before they were gone.

 _Practice matches with Shuutoku..._

Midorima seems to have grown just a little taller...

Takao is more agile now, urgh...

 _Their coach hopefully will allow..._

And plan after plan flickered through her ingenious mind as she bade goodbye to the two of them before Shuutoku started to become suspicious, and trudged over to the Rakuzan captain's room.

Knocking on the door politely, Misaki began wondering if Mayuzumi was still inside with Akashi. That would be extremely awkward. The silver haired teen was like her old Teikou friend, but Misaki understood him less and every minute she felt he was examining her from head to toe, and it was unsettling.

To her immense relief, it was Akashi who opened the door, and as the room was empty, apparently Mayuzumi wasn't present, thankfully. Walking into the room more casually than before, the pair smiled at each other. Her cheeks turned a bit red.

She always felt nervous with Akashi, though in a good way.

"Akashi-kun, I found out that Shuutoku is here as well. They apparently have a tradition of holding camps and they decided to stay here too... would you like to arrange practice with them... improve..."

Misaki chatted along, not noticing the redhead's eyes lingering on her, admiring her sleek hair the colour of midnight, and her pale, delicate hands that moved gracefully on their own without any effort at all.

"A... Akashi-kun? Are you... okay? You were kind of staring into air just now... Are you alright with me contacting the Shuutoku coach tomorrow?"

Once again, he looked directly into her orbs. He loved the way she was so concerned about his welfare unlike everyone else, the way she smiled at him sweetly and a little nervously at the same time, the way she brushed her nose a little anxiously to ensure she looked presentable.

Imayoshi Misaki looked like someone who could be held in his arms, someone who could be taken care of gently. At the same time, she would be able to manage herself on her own independently, be strong and steady on her own feet.

Every single move that she made. Especially when she was with him. That slightly nervous aura of hers.

Akashi loved it.

"Sorry, but I just can't hold this back anymore."

Without meaning to, he leaned forward a little and pressed his lips against hers instinctively, making her back lean against the wall of his room, cutting off her words instantly.

Her eyes widened and he loved to see those beautiful eyes move around, and stare at him almost curiously.

She almost pulled back out of surprise, but slowly she savoured the taste of his lips and mouth, and sighed softly. Emotions flooded into her heart and mind. Instinctively she leaned forward.

Then he felt her teeth collide with his, and a tongue slipping into his mouth hesitantly, but surely.

Akashi smiled, and moved even closer. Their tongues journeyed into each other's mouths, and they kissed passionately, with a fire they didn't know that they had in them, not stopping even for a moment.

Then they ran out of breath momentarily and pulled apart for a second, staring at each other, mesmerised by the other, before colliding again even harder, even more passionately.

The two of them just remained in his room, standing close together, kissing with fires in their hearts and souls. One beautifully nervous in way that he had never felt before, and the other beautifully smiling genuinely for the first time in two years.

X

Finally, some romance here! Basically I'm half impatient myself but I need to ensure the two of them develop slowly, and if it's a bit too sudden please feedback and comment for me to improve.


	16. Emotional Spiral

[A/N]: Thank you **Juvia Hanaka** , **boredkat, Shashabux, Spirit Magic Fox, Nawel07, Cyril2018** and **amandaxlove** for adding this to your story subscription list!

Now for the reviews!

Thank you **Juvia Hanaka**! Omg I was really pleased when I wrote that last part because they're so cute HAHA here's the next chapter!

Thank you **Cassie Star!** I agree haha, and your review encouraged me to write, reviews always cheer me up!

Thank you **Shashabux**! Actually I like slow development and I think you may feel a bit impatient and frustrated, but it's all part of the interaction. I feel that it's better because Misaki and Akashi aren't exactly super experienced with romance or any relationships yet, and Akashi can become very awkward in that aspect, even if he's confident. Thanks for the encouragement and feedback on the miscommunication. I know what you mean because I read fanfic too, so I'm not going to use that plot device here, though it's tempting sometimes.

Thank you **HowlingHarmony!** Haha I'm happy and feel warm inside that you like it. The romance is going to become clear soon though! Plus, although I love Akashi too, no spoilers haha.

Thank you for so many reviews (I'm really motivated because of them) and please do continue to review! Authors live for reviews, or any kind of response from readers, honestly.

Just a warning that I'll be out of my home country for a while this month, so I probably will update slower because I have less time to write, sorry! Plus, I'm having difficulty for my other story (check it out if you know Bungou Stray Dogs!) so I apologise for slow updates.

In this chapter there'll be less fluff now and more character developments, and plenty of angst. It'll be kind of unexpected, just to prepare you…

 **X**

The two of them just remained in his room, standing close together, kissing with fires in their hearts and souls. One beautifully nervous in way that he had never felt before, and the other beautifully smiling genuinely for the first time in two years.

She leaned back onto the wall just beside his bed, cheeks slightly pink with adrenaline, and looked right into Akashi Seijuurou's eyes.

Her breath was taken – no, stolen away.

His eyes were set ablaze; burning with a fiery passion, hungering for something more; like a wild fire they burned, blazing hot and wanting more.

An indescribable emotion took hold of her, the blush on her face creeping up even further till it was almost touching her ears, as she continued looking right at him, daring herself to stare so obviously.

She hadn't dared to stare at him like this before; no, she was always overcome by shyness or apprehension.

But this time it was different.

Then the light in those beautiful orbs dimmed slightly, and before Misaki knew it, he was no longer leaning against her, but standing upright and adjusting his clothes.

"… Akashi?"

Then she looked at his eyes even more closely, and looked back at the boy in front of her.

 _Ah._

She should have known.

"Misaki, apologies for what just happened. I merely lost control of myself, and… committed some unspeakable actions. Please do not take any of this to heart. Goodnight."

He curtly bowed, grasping her wrist – albeit still tenderly – and walking her towards the door stiffly and formally, with a pang of disappointment hitting her as her eyes followed his figure all the way to the door.

"Wait!"

He turned around once more to face her, those heterochromatic eyes boring their way into her skull.

She almost shivered from their intense gaze, but she still continued looking directly into those orbs.

She still found them beautiful – fierce and direct, like those of an avenging eagle.

"If you ever change your mind about that… I'll be waiting."

Akashi Seijuurou nodded curtly, as she quickly walked off into the moonlit corridor, her heart racing with the words he said.

 _I merely lost control of myself, and… committed some unspeakable actions. Please do not take any of this to heart._

She should have known when she fell for him, known that Akashi Seijuurou had double personalities, known that some part of him would always be cold, known that a little feeling wouldn't soften him…

Known that he wouldn't be moved by her so easily.

Her heart was aching, aching so badly, and she couldn't do a thing about it.

It was going to be a challenge.

But she was going to try to help him through it, anyway.

Then Imayoshi Misaki, calm and collected manager of the Rakuzan basketball team, standing in the middle of the darkened corridor, let out a shriek of hysterical laughter in the middle of the night, as she thought of herself falling for Akashi Seijuurou, calm and collected captain of the Rakuzan basketball team.

Midorima Shintarou, calm and collected Shooting Guard of the Shuutoku basketball team, stopping by a water cooler near the corridor in the middle of the night, shivered slightly and quickly hurried back to his room, not quite knowing where that maniacal sound he just heard came from.

A small smile appeared on the face of the girl standing in the middle of the corridor.

She did like challenges after all.

No matter how hard this was going to be, no matter how painful it was going to be, she was going to make Akashi Seijuurou feel differently, and it was going to be worth it.

The colder side of him was probably suppressing that nicer side of his – the one who treated her so gently, who cared for her so warmly, and made her heart flutter so madly it was going to break.

 _I'll be waiting for you, Akashi Seijuurou._

 _No matter how long it takes._

(what she didn't know was that she already made him feel much differently about things than before.)

 **X**

Misaki heaved a sigh as she got out of bed, heavy with sleep and mind swimming with mixed emotions all at once. Then realisation sank in, and she blushed heavily, putting her palms on her cheeks with her mind racing.

Things would be very different now with Akashi for sure. Weird.

The boldness from last night had vanished, and it had left an extremely confused and bashful Misaki behind.

Her head was starting to hurt, and Misaki groaned as she thought of Mayuzumi returning to Akashi's room. Thankfully the third year senpai hadn't been there yet when she left, but things were going to be awkward if Akashi mentioned _anything…_

Now she was getting distracted...

Trying to focus on getting up on time instead of staying sleepily on the bed, Misaki took her phone and glanced at the time. 5.15am. The match with Shuutoku was scheduled at around 7.30, so she would have to face them in about two hours. The thought of strategising made her feel sick.

She really didn't have that kind of energy anymore, and all she wanted to do was to curl up in bed and start sleeping again. Last night she had tossed and turned, thinking of the Rakuzan captain, and only slept after a long time.

She got up, and prepared to go and meet Akashi for an early morning of planning, before deciding against it. The thought of meeting that redhead made her feel strange and awkward suddenly.

Misaki, being Misaki, was always comfortable with practically everyone and anyone. But after what had happened the previous night…

A question she hadn't thought of earlier suddenly popped up in her head.

 _Does he have actual feelings for me?_

Frantically she shook her head. No.

If she were one of those annoying lovestruck high school girls in shoujo manga, she would immediately go and ask a few of her 1000 friends if Akashi liked her. Unfortunately, the sad truth was that no one would seriously believe her – even Satsuki would have her doubts, probably – so she had no one to consult.

Anyway, it was pretty obvious now that she thought about it.

She sighed.

Fine. Yes.

She had feelings for Akashi, and he had some kind of feelings for her, but that didn't mean that their relationship would work out – not even including the romantic part of it which she didn't know if even she wanted to work out.

He was just figuring things out temporarily. In his own Akashi Seijuurou way.

Her head was going to explode with the thoughts thudding and thudding on and on in her brain as she walked down to have breakfast with the Rakuzan boys, bracing herself for the loudness that would await her.

The only one whom she imagined remaining the same, calm and cool, was Akashi Seijuurou...

Misaki flushed as she sat down at a table, her seat next to him as usual. Why did all her thoughts always revolve around that darn redhead?

As she took a slight glance at him, Akashi moved his chair a little further from her, leaving quite a lot of space in between them, and ate quietly. He didn't even bother to make eye contact with her, much less smile or make conversation with her in any way.

Since that had happened, things were different between her and the captain. The entire night was filled with confusion, not helped by her remembrance of a certain old friend who used to love playing basketball so much.

Misaki was just utterly confused about her own thoughts.

 _How can I like two guys at the same time?_

But Akashi was in Rakuzan, away from her distorted past and in the beautiful present, while Daiki was right _inside_ her middle school life, and much closer to her than Akashi had ever been. Aomine Daiki truly understood everything about her, right down to the depths of her soul.

 _But he hurt you._

Though still, as usual, it was hard to completely stop her old feelings for a particular Touou basketball player. Especially since the two of them had just made up recently.

Never mind. She had enough on her mind already without worrying about Daiki.

"Misaki, may I see the training programme for today? And perhaps we can..."

She nodded in relief at the hugely official conversation between them, nothing super awkward, but her heart stung at the lack of emotion in his voice. Akashi clearly regretted what happened last night.

But still Misaki relished Akashi's arm brushing against hers, even if it wasn't intentional. His hair looked perfectly rumpled.

Everything about Akashi was just so perfect.

 **TIME SKIP**

She handed him his little bottle of ocha, and he looked at her gratefully before drinking it thirstily. For some odd reason he always preferred to drink tea after training, though she always argued that sports drinks would help him regain his energy faster. Well, if ocha helped him as much as Pocari would...

"Misaki."

She snapped back into reality, and felt his cold stare boring its way into her own orbs. She flushed slightly, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and somehow managed to summon enough courage to look directly into his eyes for more than five seconds.

A new record.

"Akashi-kun..."

"Yes?"

"Ah… Do you… Want any extra exercises for the boys today?"

Misaki cringed at the sound of her own voice. Always the awkward one in front of him. Even though it was clear after last night that he didn't want to be too friendly.

She blushed – ugh, she couldn't help it – and looked up at his beautiful crimson orbs.

"I suppose so. By the way, Nebuya has been acting rather irritating lately, so I promised him triple practice. I have to fulfill my promises, don't I?"

Misaki laughed – too loudly to be real – despite her awkwardness. Akashi was always the type to insert dark humour into those words of his.

 _But he doesn't mean anything more._

 _Just being sarcastic._

 _As usual._

Though things weren't exactly usual between them…

His hand touched hers by accident, and he pulled away instantly, her face drooping slightly. And as they made eye contact again by accident, Akashi cleared his throat and looked away, not wanting to convey any emotion of his. Misaki thought that her heart was going to burst with tension.

"Well, just warning you, Nebuya might be rather annoyed by the extra practice, so just make him exercise more if he complains. He needs to burn that large amount of food he consumes via exercise."

"I'll be fine, Akashi. I know how to deal with Eikichi-kun."

"I am sure of that, but if he tries anything funny, I will most definitely punish him further. Just make him regret messing around."

She forced a smile on her face at the mention of that, and walked away.

 _Akashi Seijuurou…_

He so regretted doing whatever he did last night, but for a good reason.

Akashi looked at his manager's face and sighed internally. After last night he was confused by his own emotions and actions, and couldn't sleep at all.

 _Just why did I lose control and kiss her again?_

She seemed more solemn and awkward compared to last night, which was expected. And he definitely didn't miss those fake smiles that she had flashed so easily just now.

Now he had confused Misaki, and to his ever sharp eagle eyes, the hurt from last night was written plainly all over her face.

The hurt that _he_ caused.

What happened to promising to himself that he wouldn't ever hurt her, like the others in the past?

But he had just done that, as callously as them all, and last night he just went to sleep not even thinking about what she felt. Just concerned about his own emotions.

 _What emotions do I even have for her?_

He bit his lip in frustration – a first for him – and sighed deeply.

Misaki was becoming quite an obsession with him. Instead of focusing on family matters and business meetings together with Father, he spent hours thinking about her.

And that was why he pushed her away so quickly the previous night.

The hardness in him was gone, but a shred of that remained in his soul, unyielding and as hard as rock.

He gritted his teeth.

 _Don't get soft again._

 _Don't lose control._

But he just wanted to see her smile when she was with him. Not that empty-looking usual smile that she gave to everyone – that honest happy smile of hers mixed together with a bit of sadness.

But it wouldn't be sad anymore. He wouldn't let Misaki be hurt ever again.

His thoughts wandered, and they came to her once again.

 _Misaki…_

He wondered if she had feelings for him. Sure, her face reddened a little when he made bodily contact, but she did that with practically all the boys. She was just not used to contact.

Frowning and sighing, Akashi put his palms on his cheeks and groaned. Why was Misaki occupying all his energy?

And was he… in love with her?

The moment he saw her he knew she was different. And he liked that difference.

 _Love at… first sight?_

That sounded ridiculously cheesy and romantic.

Akashi Seijuurou never imagined the day that he would actually be contemplating issues like these. In the past he would have mocked them as worthless and utterly stupid, even.

Urgh.

There was more to be done than expected.

Ever since he had met Misaki, she had turned his perfectly organised, perfectly controlled world upside down – something he acknowledged, but didn't do anything about it.

After all, at the start he thought she could be controlled eventually – just like the rest of them.

All of them.

Except her.

He should have known that Imayoshi Misaki was fluid, unpredictable, and ever so _different_ from everyone else – just like the rest of them.

He should have known from the first day of school – when she looked so boldly and plainly into those eagle eyes of his and actually _smiled_ , slipping into the seat beside him so naturally, not even pausing to think.

He should have known from the times she sat with him during lunch, willing to just silently consume whatever food she had, comfortable with the perfect silence.

He should have known from the times he felt like cupping her cheeks and looking right into those beautiful midnight orbs, breathing the same air as she did.

And now he was spiraling into a whole mess of confusion, his mask of perfection slipping oh so easily, his cold outer exterior being broken apart by her.

Damn, even his personalities were messed up by her.

But something told him that this girl made him _happier,_ more alive – no longer viewing people as mere pawns in a chessboard he controlled, but instead viewed them as humans with individual emotions and thoughts, and he himself felt more humane as a result.

He _did_ look more forward to school actually – whenever he was with her, she somehow managed to make things interesting and vibrant, give him a reason to smile no matter how ridiculous the reason was.

But that cold shell that had kept him from all these beautiful things – it had guided him to victory and success for all these years, enabled him to be quite the successful Akashi heir and businessman-in-the-making, and maintained his exterior illusion of calm and collectedness.

It had made him into the ideal Akashi.

No flaws, no weaknesses.

Just pure perfection.

Was it worth it to give up his perfection, his madness, his _genius –_ justfor _her_?

He didn't know.

The spiral of confusion in his heart grew even greater as he watched her walking off into the distance towards the rest of the team, smiling politely as she made small talk, encouraging them and motivating them.

That pained smile on her face seemed so ugly and fake in comparison to her real smile – the one she flashed him when they were alone, the one which showed that she was _happy,_ that she was _blissful,_ that showed that she harboured some hope about the future and what it held for her.

And something in him wanted to help her to keep smiling, to be restored to her old happy self.

Misaki's heart had been broken too many times already to be broken once more.

Especially not by _himself._

Akashi clenched his fists, now staring at the floor.

 _Imayoshi Misaki…_

 _Why do you make me so confused inside?_

An image of her emerged in his mind again – in gentle sunlight, a bright sweet smile lighting up her face, and her sparkling eyes shining with hope, facial features beautiful in their own way, movements like a butterfly in the midst of the forest, light and graceful.

Not conventionally extremely beautiful.

But she was to him.

Whatever he had with her violated every single one of the principles that he kept in his heart since young, went against _everything_ that made him such an efficient albeit soulless basketball captain, and…

Brought him all the way back to middle school.

Then Akashi Seijuurou, calm and collected captain of the Rakuzan basketball team, standing at the side of the basketball courts alone, let out a shriek of hysterical laughter, as he thought of herself falling for Imayoshi Misaki, calm and collected manager of the Rakuzan basketball team.

But that laughter was tinged with tears.

He was such an idiot.

Losing control of everything just because of her.

But something whispered in his heart that it was worth it all.

He sighed.

Packing up whatever he had left, Akashi went to his room and picked up his clothes and towel to prepare to shower. Respecting the senpais, he let them shower at an earlier time, but they were _always_ late for shower time, so he typically was the first to shower – as fast as possible, of course.

Except one senior who was always there showering elusively, before slipping off silently, going off elsewhere before someone noticed him. For all Mayuzumi wanted, he could run away from camp during practice and no one would realise for the entire day.

Even the sharp-eyed Misaki didn't notice his presence most of the time, and only called him out specifically when he was lagging behind a bit, which was extremely rare. Mayuzumi was average at everything, thus he was almost invisible.

Watching his kouhai slip off his clothes and enter the shower room right beside him, Mayuzumi frowned with disapproval. Akashi was getting a bit distracted lately. That piercing gaze had been replaced by a slight soft glimmer in his eyes.

Sometimes during meal-times he could see the captain was distracted by something else, and his practice wasn't as concentrated or intense as usual.

Even that baka Hayama could see something was off. Though those three Uncrowned Kings weren't actually doing anything about it and continuing to play hard for their captain.

Mayuzumi shared those feelings as well, in a way. With Misaki on the basketball team, there probably wouldn't be any harm done to their efficient captain. It was actually rather amusing to see the cold Akashi Seijuurou to actually have such feelings for a girl.

He didn't believe it for himself at first, and merely thought that cold-blooded first-year was just manipulating Imayoshi for his own purposes, whatever they were. But when Mayuzumi caught a glimpse of their interaction… Well, he soon realised that it was a different story altogether.

He was rather surprised that the carefree Misaki managed to grab his attention. Akashi mostly disliked high-spirited people like Hayama, and the manager was anything but quiet.

Then again, Mayuzumi had to admit to himself, Misaki was an Imayoshi, and that family had a history of being drastically different from others. That was a characteristic he had observed from Imayoshi Shouichi.

The Imayoshis were just.

Different.

In both a good and bad way, he supposed.

And he was rather glad to have a manager who actually noticed him at times, and give him useful feedback whenever she could, paying close attention to his progress instead of ignoring his playing, only making use of his elusiveness during games – which was what that arrogant captain of his did exactly.

She was a double-edged sword indeed.

 **X**

While towelling off by herself in her room, Misaki sat down on her bed and wondered why she liked the Rakuzan basketball captain.

Akashi Seijuurou was super cold. Ice cold.

But she admired him; admired the way he had an air of calm wherever he went and handled everything so nicely, admired the way he was so committed to the sport he loved, admired the way he talked to her and his various quirks in doing so, no matter how stiff he could get sometimes.

What was wrong with being socially awkward with others?

Akashi probably wasn't socially awkward at one of those fancy dinner functions where people gathered and tried to make connections and interact for the sake of doing business, but high school socialisation was way different.

It was so hard for him to talk normally to his classmates without freaking them out with his scary albeit beautiful eyes that it was cute.

Misaki wasn't one of those super popular girls who had an entire clique to gossip and hang out with, but she did have some friends. Ever since she befriended Akashi and sat with him at mealtimes occasionally, those friends started asking her about him and "how creepy he was".

And then she would get all offended, because it just _wasn't nice_ to call someone creepy just because of the regal way he walked or his super scary – well, it was super scary to them – gaze.

But honestly, why did she get offended?

They were natural reactions to someone they didn't understand. Better than those gossips in class who started whispering to everyone they could that Akashi Seijuurou was a freak or something – well, that was before Akashi dealt with them after hearing their stories, of course.

Misaki still didn't get why she liked him so much, but she did.

Love – no, not love, _romance_ was stupidly messed up.

Akashi was a solid, rock-hard and unyielding mass of coldness.

Actually, that description was pretty accurate, if you asked her. He was like an iceberg. Immobile, unshakable, and definitely cold and icy. Never showing his entire, raw self to the outside world.

But something in her head told her it wasn't so.

Especially after the time when he took her hand in his, grasping her wrist so tenderly while taking the honey-soaked lemons, staring right into her eyes, stealing her breath away.

Someone who was cold down to the depths of his soul wouldn't do that.

And all the times he smiled at her slightly amused after hearing her many lame attempts at humour, his small chuckle at seeing her mess up the chemical reactions for the millionth time in lab period, his warm gaze on hers when she helped him remove the wakame from his soup – they were enough to prove that even an iceberg could have some warmth.

It was just hidden under the surface, waiting for someone to discover it and cherish it.

Personally, Misaki thought Akashi had already unintentionally revealed the part of him that was kept under wraps to her.

That was why he felt like he was making a mistake last night. He didn't want to reveal too much; he didn't want people knowing him.

But surely he was alright with her knowing his weaknesses – if he had any, that is – so that she could help him, right?

Misaki still didn't understand Akashi Seijuurou – there was always this cloud of mystery that he was shrouded in, that she so desperately wanted to break through and ask him what the problem was. Impatiently eager to find out what made him so closed off to everyone else.

But first, she had to give him time to take control of his emotions again.

 **X**

Thank you for reading! Sorry if I've disappointed you guys by making Akashi act like that (because everyone wants to see them together, for sure), but if you're confused about his reasons just send a message to me!

Basically if you guys didn't understand, Akashi is worried that Misaki will let him shed his second personality (the one that he had since middle school) and make him weak and lose control over everything that he thinks is important, y'know?


	17. Damn It All

[A/N]: Thank you for the review **Shashabux!** Glad you liked it haha. To clarify, Akashi is trying to understand his feelings and feels a bit guilty about them, yeah, 'efficiency' and all, but he really does have strong emotions for Misaki because she changed him and how different she is from the rest. Thank you **yoongsss, Isabella Hale** and **Pookie Luffs Sushi** for adding this to your story subscription list!

Readers, please do continue to comment on my story! Now it is time to leave the camp soon and an unexpected surprise is awaiting for you in this story . Here's a long chapter for you!

 **X**

Mibuchi Reo, still heavy with sleep, got revived by the sight of some hideous neon orange uniforms as he warmed up, getting ready for the practice matches that lay ahead.

Shuutoku was one of the few schools that was almost on the same level as Rakuzan, and they had an unspoken rivalry between them. Though, needless to say Rakuzan was always in better condition. And Shuutoku was a powerhouse basketball school like them, so having practice matches with them during camp would turn out to be _very_ interesting indeed.

For once the team would actually have an interesting opponent instead of the usual teams that gave up easily after seeing the skill of Rakuzan. Shuutoku was quite strong, and Hayama had been talking excitedly about it at 2am that morning while Mibuchi was trying to sleep.

For once, he actually understood the blonde's boundless enthusiasm. He just expressed it in a different way – a more _civilised_ and _socially acceptable_ way.

Looking around, he eyed the captain, Ootsubo Taisuke with some distaste. His hair, to Mibuchi, looked slightly ugly and Ootsubo's hairstyle wasn't exactly to Mibuchi's taste. That day it was quite obvious that he hadn't combed it through nicely, unlike Mibuchi's own perfect hair – neat down to every strand.

Mibuchi's eyes flickered from player to player, remembering what his manager had said to the team just the day before and added new information to his list. Misaki always helped the team to get to know their opponents better.

But he could analyse them on his own pretty well. In Mibuchi's experience there would always be a particular personality and style of playing for each kind of "look" among basketball players, and he made use of that to his own advantage. Sometimes his assumptions could be wrong, though, but not that often…

Most of the time there would be one player with a distinct kind of unappealing look which Mibuchi disliked, and _that_ he could interpret easily. Now Shuutoku had a slightly tall, carrot-like rigid straight player, that looked like a Shooting Guard, and was casting disapproving looks around him, like Mibuchi himself.

And Midorima Shintarou was staring at Mibuchi Reo himself, frowning a little more strongly than usual.

 _What a sissy-looking Shooting Guard that he would be marking._

Takao had the nerve to say that Mibuchi Reo had "nice" floppy hair – just like his own annoying slick hair – and even thought it was _cool,_ which Midorima absolutely did not understand at all. Both of their hairstyles just looked unpresentable and irritated the hell out of him, Mibuchi's the more so.

He looked around him, even more irked by the looks on the Rakuzan players' faces. One was like a leaping monkey going around everywhere, a hungry expression on his face as he looked at all the Shuutoku players interestedly, commenting on them _extremely loudly to_ Mibuchi Reo. Did he have any courtesy at all?!

Then there was a big sized player that looked like a big ape flexing his ugly and definitely oversized muscles and glancing over at a particular indigo-haired girl often while clearing his throat, and Midorima decided he wasgetting murdered slowly and tortuously by the look in Akashi's Seijuurou's piercing eyes directed at him.

Midorima cleared his nose and stared at Imayoshi Misaki, hard. He already knew there was something special about that girl, being able to get Akashi's attention in a good way – which was always a miracle, but being able to get his concern? Now that was odd.

With a familiar tug at his shoulder, the megane sighed and resigned himself to continue shooting baskets. Now wasn't the time to think about those useless things that wouldn't help him in the match that lay ahead.

Then a whistle blew, and all the players assembled on their respective sides of the basketball court and there stood a high school girl and a grim-faced Kantoku.

"Let's have a good game!"

Slipping on their number tags and going off to their respective positions, Midorima eyed Misaki, who was already using her sharp eyes to scan all his teammates, with her pen scribbling down notes hurriedly at top speed.

That girl was just too formidable. Her brother from Touou too, he heard from his captain, was a little different from the usual stoic and stiff captains that Midorima was used to.

A memory flashed in his mind, a third year prefect walking down the corridor booking students for poor attire or late attendance and smiling. Most people would think that smile was an apologetic one, but it bothered the first year middle schooler with green hair walking around nearby.

To Midorima Shintarou, it looked sadistic. As if Imayoshi Shouichi enjoyed booking his fellow students.

 **X**

As she walked down the corridors, Misaki decided to join Hayama, Mayuzumi, Mibuchi and Eikichi in a game of intense cards after the game. Since she was quite worn out of doing research and planning strategies, it would be a good chance to get to know them better.

Yawning and coughing a little, she leaned against the wall to gather her thoughts, and sighed. Was she really going to tire herself out more by facing those loud people, or was it better to remain in her room and have an early night or continue to work?

Anyway, when she was doing her work or resting alone, her thoughts naturally wandered to last night, and she _definitely_ didn't want to think about _that._ It just made her a little sad.

Although she promised herself to earn his affections, she realised that she was procrastinating, and not doing anything about it. Not helping him with his tidal wave of emotions.

But she had her own to deal with.

Especially whenever she thought of the idea that he was confused because of _her_ – that thought alone was enough to send her squeaking and have mini Misakis running around in her brain, screaming in happiness and nervousness at the same time.

Every time she looked at the captain, she never felt the same ever again, and felt slightly odd around him, acting as if nothing had happened. So Misaki avoided him as much as possible.

With a jolt, she realised the only player she actually knew vaguely well was Akashi. And even with _him_ , she didn't fully understand his feelings sometimes.

 _Urgh, what a bad manager I am…_

Anyway, it wasn't time to think about those things. Time to loosen up and think about something _other_ than her screwed-up love life.

Bouncing onto Hayama's bed, she immediately got jostled a bit by Hayama who was working himself up to a fit as usual, and he instantly apologised, his head hanging comically.

"S-S-SO SORRY M-MANAGER-SAN! Are you al-alright? You okay? S-so sorry!"

Misaki wanted to laugh.

Were they that afraid of her?

Seriously, did they think that she was like _that_ side of Akashi? Even he in his worst mood wouldn't be that petty.

"Hayama-kun, you don't have to be so stiff, you know. It's not exactly your fault for bumping into me…"

Eikichi's face bloomed a shade of crimson darker than Akashi's hair as he dropped the bag of prawn crackers he was holding in guilt, and got scolded by the blonde even more.

"NEBUYA! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO EAT IN THE DAMN BED? NOW IT'S DIRTY!"

Mibuchi just simply sniffed haughtily and looked towards Mayuzumi, as though he was expecting his sympathy. All he got from the silver-haired third year was an expressionless, emotionless face staring back at him.

 _I mean, what else did he expect?_

Misaki laughed till her stomach was hurting, and she gazed happily at the quartet in front of her. It had been so long since she was last part of a big group like this, doing utterly stupid things together and complaining about one another.

She never realised how much she wanted to become part of the Rakuzan basketball team until now. They were like a big happy family, like she always thought they were.

No matter how strong they were at basketball, they reminded her of little kids. She felt like their mother hen or something sometimes.

As the Rakuzan regulars played, the three second-years settled down into a conversation that mainly consisted of Hayama and Eikichi's loud voices, Mibuchi sniffing and Mayuzumi listening expressionlessly. Misaki just paid attention as much as she could.

"… Sometimes Akashi can be really, REALLY scary. Like last time I accidentally spilled some milk on the club room floor, and he made me clean it up around TEN times using a mop, and gave me TRIPLE training for two weeks. I was SOOOO TIREDD OUT BY THE END OF IT!"

Misaki cringed inwardly, but didn't show any emotion.

"Sei-chan's just intense, Kotarou. I agree that Sei-chan _can_ be scary, but he's usually kinder to ladies like Misaki and I, so it's fine for the both of us. But watch out."

She choked.

" _Ladies like Misaki and I"…?_

Did he really consider himself part of the female population?

"What do you mean, kind? He never likes me eating lots of food, even if I DO need the energy to play. And he punishes me sometimes and claims I'm overeating."

In spite of herself she chuckled a little.

"At least Sei-chan's a good captain, right? He's a kouhai, and it's annoying at times when he takes charge, but he's good. Better material than us."

The two complaining second-years fell into silence at Mibuchi's retort.

Misaki blinked twice and stared at Mibuchi.

 _Sei-chan?_

Misaki could never get over Mibuchi's strange habits, like calling others by the suffix –chan. She still remembered the day when he first met her, and called her by the first name and –chan which shocked her.

Still, calling Akashi by Sei-chan made her mildly irritated, for some strange reason.

 _Jealousy?_

She shook that thought away and continued playing cards, thinking about what they had said about their captain.

As far as she knew they were kind of correct in a way. Well, according to what most other people thought of the intimidating Rakuzan basketball team captain.

 _Fierce._

 _Scary._

 _Too good._

 _Arrogant._

All these were false in reality, and Misaki inwardly sighed every day as her classmates gossiped about Akashi not so subtly, and stopped whenever he came close, feeling scared already.

She had seen him when he was at one of his worst times in Rakuzan, and that had basically changed her perspective of him ever since. Still, other people would have been more surprised than she had been.

 _FLASHBACK: 6 WEEKS AGO, BOYS' DORMITORIES. 1.07AM_

 _Misaki walked over to a particular room's door, checked the room number, and knocked. Waited for a few moments, before its exhausted occupant opened the door with a tired look on his face._

 _She was momentarily startled, and almost dropped the laptop in her arms._

 _For discussing club activities and strategies, Misaki regularly came to his room at a rather late hour as the both of them were used to sleeping very little. But Akashi…_

 _He had never been like this before._

 _Akashi Seijuurou's face was worn out, and his shirt was just a little lopsided, his posture a bit slacker than usual._

" _Akashi-kun, are… are you… alright?"_

" _Yes, Misaki. I am perfectly fine. Don't worry about me."_

 _She sat down on the seat beside his desk, watching him continue staring at his computer screen and frown in utter frustration. There were figures, emails, company corporate websites…_

 _She caught her breath for a second as she could hear an audible curse escape from his mouth._

 _As far as she knew, Akashi Seijuurou never cursed._

 _Not in front of other people, at least._

" _Sorry to bother, but are you… helping with your father's business? I… I just guessed by the stuff on your screen."_

 _He looked up, and she could see the usual sharpness of his eyes gone, replaced by a dull glimmer, and she took in all his features with a worried gaze._

 _Akashi had never been as tired as this before, even during those painfully boring math lessons where the teacher went at a snail's pace and half the class already finished all the work out of boredom._

" _Yes… It's a business deal with a client. I'm just having some difficulties."_

 _Misaki shook her head in protest, and looked at the screen accusingly. There were slightly curt emails being sent from a client, and as far as she could tell, they were demanding something rather unreasonable from the company._

 _Akashi Seijuurou was far more intelligent than any other person she had ever known, but he was such a bad liar._

" _Nope, Akashi. You are completely exhausted and you're not going to continue like this. Or else you wouldn't be able to focus tomorrow and Sensei might scold me for letting you drift off. Besides. Don't you want to be the top in class again?"_

 _"Misaki, I am used to this kind of life. I will get the top in class anyway. And I will definitely not drift off in class, and I can definitely handle…"_

" _Akashi, you're such a bad liar. I can't stand it any longer. Go to sleep, it's like 1am. You can wake up early and continue or do it after club practice. Don't torture yourself like this."_

 _Getting up, Misaki promptly closed the lid of the computer and gazed at Akashi, annoyed. Partially because he made her worry about him so much._

 _Just why do I care about you again?_

 _You're selfish, mildly arrogant, an absolute workaholic, a guy that likes to put pressure on and control others…_

" _You're such a nag, Misaki. Besides, you're staying up this late yourself, for the club if I'm not wrong."_

 _She huffed and cleared her throat as Akashi gazed at her with those ruby orbs, re-ignited with a mischievous light, half-smiling with amusement, and she tried to stop a blush from creeping up on her face. Growing a bit flustered, she broke out into another sentence._

" _Well, I'm not the one who's lying on the table exhausted. Akashi, I have to make you sleep, or else you would be overworking yourself day and night just for work, club or your family's company. Or all of that. I don't really care anymore, because you need to take care of yourself. I care – "_

I care about you.

 _Misaki stopped herself from saying that out loud just in time and cringed._

"… _About the team's achievements. If you're unfit to lead because you're tired and overworking yourself, then how will Rakuzan be able to win the Winter Cup? At least care about the basketball team._

" _Besides, it annoys me to see you like this. Quickly rest so I actually can talk to a deskmate tomorrow who is not forever half-tired or sleepy."_

 _She closed the door, and went out._

 _FLASHBACK END_

"… Akashi is _still_ a pretty fierce dude for a captain, even if others like Kasamatsu from Kaijo are annoyed easily…"

For some reason Misaki didn't want to show that side of Akashi Seijuurou to the team, and simply listened and nodded, as if she was agreeing with whatever the players commented about Akashi.

Also, she had the feeling that he wouldn't like it very much if she told anyone about it. He had hidden his other self for a reason.

"HAH! I win!"

She snapped out of her thoughts as Eikichi played down a final card, flexing his muscles and raising his bulging arms in triumph as Mibuchi and Hayama started whining about him cheating or something. Mayuzumi exited the room quietly, not saying anything as usual.

Smiling, she collected her own cards and gave them back to Hayama. The game had served its purpose – to make her feel more lighthearted and communicate with other people _besides_ Akashi.

 _Well, sort of…_

Though she could somehow never get her thoughts off that infuriating redhead.

As Misaki strolled down the hallway, she received an unexpected text on her phone, and took her phone out of her pocket to view it. Her mouth dropped open, and a smile lit up her face.

Slightly behind her, Midorima Shintarou, slightly tired, walked forward to approach the indigo-haired girl that was half-staring at her phone and half-making her way towards her room.

Tapping her on the shoulder, she turned around before smiling both tiredly and slightly apologetically – for some strange reason, he decided – and waved her phone before his eyes in the air.

"Midorima-kun, have you seen this message that Ki-kun sent? I can't wait to see them all again! Are you going? I most likely am."

He sniffed with slight contempt at the sender of the said text message.

"Yes, I have received it and since I happen to be free that day and have nothing more interesting to do, I am also probably going. That text contains far too many emoticons, as you can see."

She glanced once more at the message and laughed lightly. As usual, Kise Ryouta had somehow managed to insert eleven smiley faces into a couple of sentences in a short message.

"Actually, I was just about to ask you that. Do you know if everyone will be present? I would like to meet all of them properly once more before the Winter Cup starts."

She smiled a little. Even the stoic Midorima had a soft side to him.

"I asked Kise, and he replied that he had only invited the Generation of Miracles, Tetsu, Satsuki and I. So if everyone accepts, they would be present naturally."

The green haired teen nodded, and proceeded to walk away.

And as soon as he did so, her phone instantly began ringing, and Midorima turned around once again to face Misaki picking up the line to a loud, loud voice.

"Moshi moshi…"

"MISACCHI! I haven't heard your voice in so long~ So you got the message about the camp, right? I AM SO EXCITED! I wanna see you and Akashicchi soon~ Kanagawa is so far away from Kyoto and I rarely see you! Now I can! We'll be shopping for food – "

"So basically Akashi and I have to _travel_ to Tokyo during the weekend and then travel all the way _back_ after around only 24 hours. With all our clothes and stuff we need."

"Ne, that's not a nice way of putting it, Misacchi, but it'll be fun, right~ Everyone will be there! And we can go grocery-shopping together for snacks and food to eat~"

"What's with you and food shopping? Are you permanently hungry or something?"

"Misacchi, SO MEAN! I was just thinking about how back in Teikou we all used to hang around that convenience store near school together happily as friends, and we should do that again~"

Misaki's mind flashed back to those memories from two years ago, and smiled wistfully as she remembered the times when they were all laughing and joking together, innocently and happily approaching the future.

She yearned to go back to those days when all she knew was happiness and love and friendship, and though she did have a bit of worry over her club, it was nothing compared to when she was fifteen turning sixteen years old, now.

Yes. She did want to go back in time.

"Definitely. I want to do that as well. I want to go back to that store with them and…"

"Just relish the presence of our friends."

Both of them smiled both wistfully and excitedly at the same time, and they could hear each other's smiles over the phone, before they started discussing logistics of the meeting.

For the first time in her life, Misaki wanted to return to school so badly after the basketball camp ended. Then she would immediately pack her things, rush off to Tokyo, go back home and pack some more before finding his house.

Her heart filled with nostalgia, and a warm feeling crept up into her mind.

 _Daiki._

She would be seeing him again.

Her heart fluttered, and she smiled once again as she walked back to her room to continue doing her work, more refreshed.

Then Akashi's image popped up in her mind next to Daiki's, like a slideshow, and Misaki groaned audibly and cupped her cheeks in irritation and confusion.

Those two were forever making her utterly lost, and she didn't know how to deal with her Rakuzan friend after he kissed her so beautifully last night, and couldn't say _anything_ about that to Akashi while he was still sorting things out.

Was he even going to go?

If he was, things would just be _beyond_ awkward between the two of them.

And she and Daiki were just getting to know each other again, returning to being old friends.

Urgh.

Sometimes she wished she could knock her head against a hard wall, get amnesia and pretend that none of this had ever happened.

 **X**

"Thank you for the camp!"

The Rakuzan and Shuutoku players chanted in unison as they waved goodbye to each other and started lining up to board their individual buses to go back to school.

It was 6.47am in the morning, and Akashi Seijuurou was trying to conceal his yawns as much as possible as he sat down on his seat together with his manager – something he always did, no matter how awkward their interaction was.

Last night he had written parts of an entire a hundred and eight page document proposal to submit to a demanding client, and had stayed up till… He didn't really know, actually. The last time he checked – which was quite a long time before he _really_ went to bed – was around 4am.

Disobeying his manager's instructions, of course.

Placing his heavy bags and equipment down on the floor, he checked his phone for the first time in two days and was amused by the message that his old teammate had sent.

FROM: Ryouta

TO: Aomine Daiki, Imayoshi Misaki, Kuroko Tetsuya, Midorima Shintarou, Momoi Satsuki, Murasakibara Atsushi, You

HIEVERYONE _:DD we haven't met up : in so long_ I miss you SO MUCHH｡･ﾟﾟ･(д)･ﾟﾟ･｡ I wanna see you guys (*≧▽≦) nowwww EEE next weekend lets meet in Tokyo :] XD my house xp c u soon - :-) ;'))))))) call me for more info PLS!1!1! I wanna hear your voices v

Akashi almost rolled his eyes in contempt, and he heard a muffled giggle from the girl beside him, as she leaned over to his side and read the same message.

His cheeks bloomed pinkish, and he looked down to hide it, pretending to be mildly annoyed just to mask his emotions. Being around Misaki got awkward after he impulsively kissed her.

Then, as if some instinct had suddenly triggered her, she instantly sat up straight again, brushing off some invisible dust off her clothes.

He almost sighed.

 _Messing him up again, like she always did._

He was used to being good at everything that he did, completing every task, finishing every job that he was given, and was a perfectionist and master at every single thing.

Except, except.

He didn't know how to enter a relationship properly.

Loving was hard for him, and Akashi felt like a little baby taking its first steps on the ground, unsure and unsteady, ready to fall any moment.

He had talent in every area but in the romantic field, and at that moment when he glanced up to see a quiet Misaki, he wished for a brief moment he could be like Kise and express his emotions freely without any regrets.

And that he didn't have to be that stiff, strict person he was all the time, pushing her away simply because it was his duty to.

Yawning tiredly, Akashi leaned on the window and attempted once again to show that he was awake by standing up – still leaning on the window as he was too tired to support himself – and instructing Hayama to do some things that were in fact, quite unnecessary.

It was just that he didn't want that girl sitting beside him to know that he was exhausted from doing work late at night again.

But it was too late, and predictably, Misaki spotted Akashi's gaze relaxing, and immediately guessed what the problem was.

"Akashi…"

The moment he heard that slightly irritated sentence, he turned around and smiled sheepishly at Misaki.

His gaze was riveting, with those crimson orbs full of life and emotions, his genuine smile curving just a little upwards, containing mixed feelings of both sadness and happiness.

His face was beautiful and amazing, and Misaki liked every single little bit of bit.

"You stayed up late and didn't sleep at all, didn't you… You really should have listened to me yesterday. Urgh. Take care of yourself more."

As Akashi nodded sleepily and was closing his eyes to sleep, he felt a little nudge on his shoulder, and could feel his entire body shifting. He opened his eyes, and his cheeks turned a bit pinkish once again, to his embarrassment.

Misaki was gently moving his body towards hers, so that his head was resting against her small carrier bag which was propped against her shoulder and he could have a comfortable pillow to rest on.

Although Akashi wasn't directly resting on her shoulder, or on her chest like with him on the train, Misaki felt slightly embarrassed at coming up with this solution.

Most managers wouldn't let their male team members just simply rest their heads almost directly on their shoulders, right?

But even then, Akashi was different from the rest of the team.

 _Urgh, stop thinking about these useless thoughts!_

If she let Akashi lean on her bag, it didn't mean that she had feelings for him.

Actually it didn't even matter after that fateful night.

And didn't she promise herself that she was going to let Akashi know that it was worth it to be with her?

 _Obviously, Misaki. Don't overthink._

In an effort to distract herself, Misaki pulled out her earphones and her phone, before pressing the "play" button on one of her playlists and shutting her eyes, preparing for a long nap. She was tired as well, after all.

Before sleeping, she glanced down at her team captain, and marveled how different he looked when he was sleeping.

His hair was slightly messed up as he leaned against her bag, his nose slightly blocked and making tiny wheezy sounds which were oh so cute, and his face totally relaxed, something which Misaki had not seen in a _long_ time.

Instinctively, she leaned close to him and patted his hair down, before shutting her eyes and getting some nap time as well.

She didn't notice the small smile that crept up onto her captain's face, nor the slight shifting of his body as he got up to look at a sleeping Misaki.

He wasn't going to hold back anymore.

He knew what he wanted, and was sure of it.

 _Screw everyone else._

 **X**

It is extremely hard to write about and portray the captain of Rakuzan so far because his character is really really complex (fellow writer do you get what I mean?) so I apologise if he appears too soft/overwhelming or if I exaggerate some aspects of his character a little. I will be trying my best to show him in an accurate way though!

In this story Akashi does appear somewhat nicer than usual, and it is due to his softening when he interacts with Misaki. There's just something about her that makes him open up to her, so his second personality is less active and he is back to his old caring self again instead. If you get what I mean, Misaki acts as a kind of bridge between Akashi and the rest of the team, as she understands both better than they each understand each other.

A reunion between the Kiseki no Sedai will be coming up, and expect more comedic relief instead of emo self reflection, unlike what appears in a lot of my chapters so far. I apologise for not including enough funny moments and making my characters think the same things over and over again! I will do my best to get rid of this annoying habit of mine and be a better writer

Murasakibara has not been completely introduced yet except snippets of him talking to Himuro, so he will be sort of making a debut appearance and meeting Misaki for the first time (in two years) and actually getting to know her better. Other friends will also be there, and more character interaction besides just Akashi and Misaki will be included as much as possible.

Once again, please try and review so my story writing can improve and I can make the story as interesting as possible to suit your interests! I'll really appreciate it if you can just type one or two sentences – or one or two words – in the box below to comment about my story so far. All feedback, no matter how bad it gets, is very welcome.


	18. Together Again

[A/N]: Thank you **Famories, Knight of courage, GirllGotChu, AnaJuarez, xSuccubusQueen, aniaco, nataliecheng2103** for adding this to your story subscription list! Thank you for the review **HowlingHarmony**! To be honest, I added that later on while I was editing/proof-reading my chapter, glad I did that haha.

Okay, I'll confess something. At first I was going to make Akashi and Misaki get together immediately and "brave troubles together" and all that, then I thought about the number of issues that was going to crop up/get in the way of their relationship, so just a warning – this story's romance is going to be particularly slow-burning and heart-throbbing.

There will be an interesting meet up in this chapter with all the GoM members! Another long chapter ahead to treat you guys!

 **X**

"Urgh…"

Misaki dragged her feet off from Rakuzan High School as she yawned heavily for about the hundredth time that day after leaving her school uniform and supplies behind. Akashi Seijuurou was walking in front, seemingly refreshed and wide awake.

Although she had napped for almost the entire bus journey to the Tokyo station, she was unable to get any sleep on the Shinkansen at all and instead decided to plan strategies for the team, which turned out to be a horrible idea.

Now her eyes were tired and her body aching from all the walking and equipment-carrying, unlike Akashi who had somehow managed to sleep through 99% of the whole journey, who was no longer exhausted.

"We have to travel _back_ to Tokyo after the trip, which is a rather stupid thing considering we just left from there three hours ago, and unpack our things _again._ Plus, we have to go shopping with Kise and that is _not_ going to be in any wayrelaxing at _all._ "

Misaki grumbled in a low voice as she carried her heavy bag to walk to the nearby train station to take a train to the Kyoto station – where she just went less than an hour ago – to meet up with her old middle school friends.

Akashi merely chuckled, glanced at the extremely grumpy Misaki, and smiled. He had seen her wake up a few times in the morning and after naps, and he would never want to wake her up ever again.

Unless he developed a liking for facing a tired, slightly irritated – no, highly irritated – and a complaining Misaki after waking up.

He was interested in what his old friends had become. Kyoto was extremely far away, and he rarely met them, even at competitions. Even after talking to Misaki who met a few of them, he still had little idea what they actually were like after a year of being apart.

It would indeed be nice to catch up again, and re-visit those old times before his second personality appeared and made real happiness a rare thing.

Glancing at the girl walking behind him, Akashi's face held the trace of a smile.

She was there throughout the entire thing, even if he hadn't noticed her then back in middle school, and was present in both is past and present lives.

 _And hopefully in his future, too._

Suddenly, he impulsively grasped Misaki's hand, and gripped it tight but not too tight, never wanting to let go.

She turned to look at him, a startled expression on her face, eyebrows raised in silent inquiry, as he responded by simply smiling back at her, using his other hand to gently tuck an unruly lock of hair behind her right ear.

Then she got what he was doing, what he was trying to imply, what he was getting her to understand without saying anything out loud, and squeezed his hand right back at him.

" _Idiot._ "

She whispered softly, as if it were a forbidden word, and a bright smile lit up her whole face; lit up the entire park; lit up his whole world.

"I'm glad."

Because things were never going to be the same way ever again.

He laughed a little; she laughed back, and the entire world seemed to be aglow with hope and happiness and oh so much _love._

Because nothing else but his queen mattered in the entire world to her king.

 **TIME SKIP**

 **KISE**

Kise Ryouta waited impatiently at the Tokyo station – his face hidden by some large ugly tinted sunglasses to disguise himself – as he checked his watch once again.

 _1.27pm._

Ugh.

It was almost time. He couldn't wait to see Misacchi again, and to see that amazing smile of hers once more. The last time he had seen her smile like that was in second year of middle school before her life got torn apart, and a few weeks ago when she smiled at _him,_ it wasn't meant for Kise himself.

Kise was determined to make Misacchi as happy as he possibly could and make her forget all her worries for once. At least he was rest assured about her emotional well-being, since she and her long-time friend got back together at the Rakuzan-Touou match.

He didn't really mind if Misacchi never realised his feelings for her. He never actually wished for Misacchi to like him, even if it _would_ be very nice for that to happen. It would be better for her to fall in love with someone she had shared her feelings with for a long time, someone like Aominecchi.

Still, Kise was rather curious about the shift in dynamics between a certain ex Teikou captain and Imayoshi Misaki. They seemed to have gotten much friendlier, and he personally knew that Akashi Seijuurou almost never let down his guard in front of others, no matter how tired he might get.

But there was also the Akashi Seijuurou who had gotten _very_ friendly with Misaki, and even made her smile her old, rusty-from-disuse genuine smile after two years.

As far as Kise remembered, after what had happened with Aominecchi, Misaki had never smiled truly happily ever again. All her happy expressions turned somewhat shallow, and her sad ones hid real, raw pain in them.

But if Akashi managed to make her smile like that again…

They must be closer than he thought.

Surprisingly, Kise only felt a tiny bit bitter about that. He had kind of accepted the fact that Misaki didn't like him romantically from a long time ago, and wasn't particularly bothered about it, just feeling a little sting whenever he thought about her and Aominecchi liking each other.

 _Enough of thinking yourself as a martyr. You're salty about Misaki's relationships with other people sometimes, and how close she is to certain people._

 _Actually…_

A lot.

Girls usually noticed him and fawned over him, and he usually made them go head-over-heels in love with him. But the one girl he liked so much?

He just couldn't make her feel the same way about him.

Sighing in annoyance, Kise pulled down his cap even further as he noticed a few middle school girls gawping and staring at him in recognition, trying to study him closely.

Disguising himself in public was always a major issue, so he had come fully prepared.

Moving away from the girls subtly, Kise cursed softly and checked his watch again.

 _1.33pm._

When would those two finally arrive?

 **AKASHI**

He could hear his friend heaving an audible sigh of relief as the announcer announced that the train was reaching the Tokyo stop, at last. Akashi smiled in amusement. Misaki was always so funny whenever she was complaining.

It was a refreshing change from her typical kuudere kind of attitude, where she would just silently sit down and try to make idle small talk while waiting for her stop, bearing with the wait. Seems like everyone also had a flipside personality.

As he and Misaki moved further up the train to take their luggage back and get down from the train, he heard a barely audible heave coming out of Misaki's mouth.

The usually vibrant and physically strong teen was taking in deep breaths as she heaved her suitcase off the high shelf with only one arm, and used the other to carry her side backpack which she hadn't had time to carry fully on her back yet.

Akashi frowned and moved over to help. Misaki managed that task a few days ago with just a slight bit of difficulty, and now she was huffing and panting like nobody's business.

Now that he looked at her closely, Akashi could see a few newly-formed eyebags around Misaki's tired-looking eyes, and those beautiful orbs had lost its usual glimmer and twinkle. They were dull now. Almost lifeless.

Now that he thought about it, Misaki seemed a bit more tired during the camp than usual. During matches she seemed to have cheered for the team less, and stayed up later, planning more and more, doing more and more work.

He was mildly irritated with her. For all of her continuous nagging on the trip to him to keep himself healthy and energised with sleep, Misaki didn't practise the same habits that she preached, evidently.

Sometimes she stayed up even later than him on normal days, messaging him at around 3am to clarify some things. Now that he observed her, it was quite obvious that Imayoshi Misaki was driving herself to the boundaries of her mental stamina.

Akashi cursed inwardly as he took Misaki's backpack for her, and they got out of the train carriage. If only he had noticed earlier and had taken more care of her during the camp…

Misaki was always tirelessly doing so much for the team. No one usually noticed, including himself sometimes, but she was kind of the brain behind the tactics people like him or Mibuchi would employ to confuse their opponents.

In a way she helped the team as much as Kantoku Eiji Shirogane did, and she was only a first year high school student, helping the team to organise, arrange practices, matches, camps, transportation, finances…

Yet she still would bother about how he was doing, and remind people like Kotarou not to use up all his energy shouting or running about, telling Nebuya to eat less spicy or plainer food before matches to avoid stomachaches…

Watching Misaki get off the train, Akashi followed suit, and continued looking at her with those observant eyes of his.

He hoped that the meeting with those old friends of hers would be able to help her become less tired and more energised, laughing happily once again with those twinkling eyes of hers, full of energy.

Everyone thought that Imayoshi Misaki was strong. She was, indeed, mentally and physically capable of doing almost everything, and overcoming problems.

But humans all had their limits, and she was being pushed to them already.

If no one watched out for her…

He had to be the one who did that.

After all, he had made his mental choice already – to take care of her and stand by her, even if it meant throwing aside common sense and his second personality to do so.

To be with her always.

 **MISAKI**

Getting off the train, pulling a luggage, Misaki felt a little bit more energized as she spotted a familiar face in front of her, disguised by black shades and a black cap pulled over his face. Still, the disguise wasn't enough to conceal the person's true identity from her.

These few days she had been on the verge of falling ill, because for some reason whenever she went on those school camps, her health _always_ had to go and deteriorate, making her tired and unable to do anything productively.

She could tell Akashi was worried about her, but didn't want him to do so. He had to go and take care of _himself_ first before bothering about other people. His situation was far worse than hers, anyway. A permanent state of exhaustion.

Glancing at Akashi momentarily, she turned her head to the front once more and before she could even walk further in front to greet her friend, he had somehow already managed to run up in front of her and throw his arms around her shoulders.

"Misacchi, I missed you so much while you were away in Kyoto~ It's nice to see you again! You too, Akashicchi~ Isn't it nice to be back in Tokyo again? You look really happy to be here~"

Suddenly his speech stopped, and his eyes grew wider as he looked at something behind him, and for some reason gulped, rapidly moving away from the girl.

"What is it, Kise? Did you see a ghost or something here? On a train platform?"

"N-n-no, Misacchi, it's nothing, I'm just looking at, urm, a – a – a… poster! Yes, to… teach the public how to… enter the Shinkansen safely! It's just… re – really informative! So interesting!"

As far as she knew, there _was_ no poster on how to enter the Shinkansen safely in the Tokyo subway station.

Misaki half-heartedly rolled her eyes on purpose to show that she was mildly annoyed by his lame excuse and didn't believe it at all, before gently prising his arms off from her shoulders and looking at him properly.

Kise Ryouta had just taken off his shades, and his eyes were coloured dark amber as ever with flecks of gold in them, beautiful and bright, his facial features and curves all perfect.

And she could see for herself yet again why the girls in her class swooned about him so much.

 _Damn, he got even hotter than the last time I'd seen him._

Urgh.

If she wasn't careful, she was going to end up like one of those lovesick girls in her class, always fangirling and talking about guys.

 _Shut up, hormones._

She cursed his perfect looks and body as she tried to get his hands off her own luggage as Kise attempted to be helpful.

"Now Kise, don't try to help me carry this. I'm not as weak as you probably think I am."

"Ne, Misacchi, even if you wanna carry this all by yourself, I won't let you. Today you travelled all the way from Tokyo, and you're probably super tired, so let me help~"

Unwillingly, Misaki gave up and let the smiling Kise take her luggage, but took her own backpack back from her Rakuzan friend. She didn't like to depend too much on other people, and especially didn't want them to help her carry her own things.

It was kind of something that she had leant from young – to depend on herself, and to be able to manage on her own only. Her brother was the same. They didn't want to cause too much trouble or to rely on others too much.

"But next time Kise, I can carry my own things. Just this once, where I _am_ actually tired."

The blonde model managed a lighthearted smile before the trio went up the escalator and out of the subway station.

Misaki sighed as she looked at the row of people in front of them waiting for the bus, and glanced impatiently out into the distance. They had to wait for one specific bus to take them to Kise's house that usually took _forever_ , _then_ go grocery shopping, _then_ finally manage to meet their old friends.

She looked at her watch for the fourth time that hour, and silently calculated the time left before they could all see one another again.

 _1.53pm._

In three hours and seven minutes' time.

Urgh.

 **X**

"Kasamatsu Senpai-cchi, here are my old friends~ Isn't this a nice surprise? You expected only me and the rest of the Kaijou team, righttttt? Misacchi you met before at the match or something, and here is her friend Akashicchi, the first-year Rakuzan captain~"

Kise was grinning as he introduced his heavily-blushing Kaijou senpai to Misaki and Akashi, and the most accurate description of his senpai then would be an over-ripe tomato that was ready to explode.

Kasamatsu Yukio wanted to die and bury himself alive in the ground on the spot.

Kise had somehow managed to trick him into thinking that the Kaijou team was going out for unofficial practice together on a Friday evening – as there was no club that day due to Kantoku's absence – and Kasamatsu evidently had gotten the shock of his life the moment he saw Misaki standing there.

"H-h-hello, Imayoshi-san and uh, Akashi-san…"

Kise couldn't help chuckling as his senpai dropped into a traditional low bow in front of them, evidently because of his nervousness in front of Misaki – who was an actual human _girl_ –, before the blonde received a death glare from the red-faced Kaijou captain.

"Arigato for coming, Kasamatsu-kun…"

Misaki and Akashi dropped into equally low bows in front of him, as Kasamatsu's face turned even redder with embarrassment.

 _KISE I AM GOING TO KILL YOU…!_

At least he was just _slightly_ better with girls since the last two encounters with Misaki – both of them ended in him fainting and Kobori having to carry him away, by the way. And Akashi plus Kise were here, so it wouldn't be too awkward interacting with Misaki.

"Okay, do you want to start buying food now?"

Kasamatsu blurted out to seal his awkwardness and quickly took a basket out from the entrance of the supermarket, Misaki and Akashi doing likewise. As he walked inside, his arm bumped unexpectedly into Misaki's, and Kasamatsu almost dropped his basket in horrification and embarrassment.

"S-sorry! Urm… I didn't mean… to!"

Misaki was looking at him slightly oddly again, with just the trace of a smile.

"It's fine, Kasamatsu-kun."

Kasamatsu's face turned a crimson shade of red, as he shuffled his way further into the supermarket, glancing down a little to hide his face.

 _She touched me!_

 _A GIRL BUMPED INTO ME..!_

 _SHE ACTUALLY –_

Kasamatsu may have seemed calm on the outside, but on the inside he was screaming and a hundred mini little Kasamatsu were running around like crazy in his mind, panicking and screeching for help.

As he walked into the mart, he could sense a chilly gaze directed at his back, and shivered involuntarily.

Turning around, he noticed a pair of sharp and piercing eyes directed at him, plucking out every bit of dignity left in him, and Kasamatsu glanced away, intimidated.

The message was clear: IF YOU MAKE A SINGLE MOVE ON MISAKI, I _WILL_ KILL YOU.

It was not like Kasamatsu was flirting – more so, he _didn't_ want to bump into her for very obvious reasons to anyone who knew him at all–, but he didn't want to provoke the fierce-looking Akashi anymore, and didn't say anything in response.

The quartet strolled further inside, and started browsing for suitable food to eat at the so-called "camp" at Kise's house, as Kise insisted that "there would be no more food left for his family" if they consumed _his_ food. What possessiveness and selfishness.

"So do you think we should buy snacks for Murasakibara-kun?"

Misaki was asking hurriedly as she grabbed some packets of udon off the shelves of the mart as she glanced at the snack shelves nearby.

Kise frowned. As far as he knew Murasakibaracchi always brought his own supply of snacks, and wasn't that picky as long as the snacks that you gave didn't taste weird or bad. His taste extended far and wide, and he could eat almost every type of junk food available.

"Lets be on the safe side and buy a few then, in case he runs out and becomes super moody or something…"

Kise walked off to the snacks section and scooped off a few Maiu-Bo and some other interesting looking potato chips and assorted snacks, dumping them all inside the basket.

A nearby customer looked shocked at the amount of snacks the four teenagers were buying, but the group of teenagers themselves knew better. You _definitely_ didn't want to have a hungry and snack-deprived Murasakibara on your hands, unless you had a death wish.

Misaki chucked a bunch of things inside the small basket she was holding, huffing in annoyance as Kise grabbed a pack of wakame and dumped it in carelessly, before adding a few more.

"Kise, you _know_ Akashi doesn't like wakame. He's been your teammate for so long, but you forgot…"

"Oh, gomen, Akashicchi! I… I forgot…"

"It doesn't matter now, Ryouta. Just put that… _thing_ back."

Misaki laughed softly at the way Akashi referred to the packet of wakame as "that _thing_ ". He didn't like wakame so much, that when he ordered a bowl of ramen in the school and it contained slight strips of it, he offered the entire bowl to Misaki instead, who was more than happy to take it.

"Akashi, how you hate wakame…"

"It's just… _totally_ unappetizing. I would _never_ choose to eat it voluntarily. _Ever._ Even if it's for money, I wouldn't. _"_

That only made Misaki laugh more at Akashi's cute expression, and make the redhead pout ever so slightly in contempt, but as for the latter action, no one noticed it.

Kasamatsu was staring at Misaki hard, and was looking back and forth from the captain to the indigo-haired girl.

Was it just him, or was the way they interacted different from that of the usual friend-to-friend interaction?

 _A couple…?_

 _No, NO, NO!_

Kasamatsu couldn't believe that he himself was thinking about that kind of thing.

Especially when something like that concerned Akashi Seijuurou, the holy first year captain of Rakuzan basketball?

That stone-cold "demon from hell" as Kise described?

 _NO!_

Well, he had heard Kise's incessant chatter on the way to the train station after basketball practice talking about his old teammates, and from there Kasamatsu had already decided that this "Akashicchi" must be some sort of legendary and scary king or something.

Here Misaki stood laughing about Akashi's hatred of wakame, and Akashi was being teased by his friend and not bothered about it in the slightest.

Whenever Kise referred to Akashi, he always described him as "scary", a "sadist", "monster from hell" or an "executionist".

For that reason, Kasamatsu realised that Imayoshi Misaki was different from your typical teenager.

Now that he noticed it, her eyes were laughing, but they held a certain sharpness and precision. As if they were always alert, watching you, observing how you play, noticing every single little movement…

Kasamatsu shivered and stopped that train of thoughts. No, he was just over-analysing the situation. Maybe Imayoshi was just really good friends with Akashi or something.

Urgh.

 **X**

Midorima Shintarou stood outside the entrance of a modest-looking big house as he looked at his watch once again.

 _5.07pm._

Those people were seven minutes late already. Even the host himself, Kise, was absent. Apparently he had gone with Misaki and Akashi to buy food supplies for the meet-up.

He couldn't believe that everyone else was absent. Especially when Imayoshi was usually so punctual.

 _Were they playing a trick on him?_

Clutching his big-sized teddy bear protectively, Midorima scowled in irritation and checked his watch again in impatience. Oha-Asa had predicted an unexpected surprise for him that day, and even if he had gotten his lucky item, his luck was still down.

"Shin-chan, do you miss me already~ aren't you thinking about me right now~"

Then, out of nowhere at all, a black-haired boy jumped onto his body, causing him to shriek a little and jump, before frowning in complete annoyance at the prankster.

"TAKAO!"

Midorima nearly exploded both in shock and anger, as the Shuutoku Point Guard merely grinned mischievously and leaned on the wall outside Kise's home.

"Takao! Why on earth did you follow me here? All the way from school?"

"Yepp, what's wrong with being curious about your weird actions? I just decided to follow you because you were acting rather suspiciously, checking _such_ an old-fashioned map and following a specific route…"

"What do you mean by weird or suspicious? I'm not like that! What's wrong with following a map to someone's house?"

"And since Shin-chan almost never visits new places, wouldn't I get a little suspicious of you? So I followed… What are you doing outside this house? Visiting Mi-chan's home, aren't you~ I knew you liked her~"

"TAKAO, don't spout nonsense unnecessarily. In the first place, I only treat Imayoshi Misaki as an acquaintance, since I barely know her. Besides, this is Kise's house, not Misaki's. Don't make assumptions without checking first."

As the tsundere pushed up his glasses intellectually, Takao perked up with some interest. _Kise's house?_ Wasn't that Kise Ryouta, Shin-chan's teammate back in Teikou? Then what was he here for?

 _Wait…_

Takao's eyes widened as he spotted _very_ familiar figures walking towards Midorima, laughing and talking all together. He grinned widely. His assumptions turned out to be correct.

Kasamatsu Yukio – the Kaijou team's captain – was beside Kise with an unnaturally red face, not saying anything and trying his best to make himself invisible, while Kise Ryouta was laughing and talking with Imayoshi Misaki beside him, occasionally elbowing his senpai. Akashi Seijuurou was silently watching their interaction, with a strange expression on his face.

Takao's face hardened. _Akashi Seijuurou._ The very captain that had led the Kiseki no Sedai to crush his team's hopes and dreams in middle school. Besides Shin-chan, Takao didn't know much about his other teammates, and naturally held a strong dislike for them.

The Generation of Miracles were all downright irritating except Kise, whom Misaki always mentioned with an annoyed tone in her voice whenever he was mentioned in conversations or text. That made Takao like him more.

Today, he bet that he was going to meet face-to-face with all of the Teikou basketballers. The ones that had ruined his basketball life two years ago.

Midorima glanced at Takao's stiff face, and guessed what he was thinking. The sight of any member of the team, except Kise – whom Takao mentioned that he liked – and Midorima, irked him and reminded him of those days in the past, when they _crushed_ him…

He just pushed up his glasses again, trying not to be awkward when meeting his old friends. As usual, Kise was smiling like a happy-go-lucky bunny – which Midorima suspected was the representation of Kise Ryouta's true inner spirit animal – and Akashi with his usual piercing glance.

How did Imayoshi ever stand being friends with these people? Then again, Takao Kazunari was no better than them.

 _Time to re-evaluate his list of friends._

"Hello, Midorima-kun! Sorry for being late… And is everyone else late as well? Urgh."

She could see the green-haired teen's eyes twitching with annoyance as Kise produced a small key, went forward to the entrance and unlocked the door to his house. She couldn't blame him. Midorima had to wait outside the house in the sun for more than ten minutes, and even the host was out.

"Yes. It is fine, as you had gone out shopping in order to buy groceries for everyone to eat, unlike everyone else who is likely absent for their own personal reasons. I assume Aomine is still sleeping now, as usual, late…"

Misaki groaned on cue as she pressed the "HANG UP" button on her phone, slumping in annoyance. Daiki wasn't answering his phone yet _again,_ probably for the same reason. Even Satsuki couldn't be reached.

As Kise was busily unlocking the door, very familiar faces arrived, and Midorima pursed his lips in a school madam-like fashion. His lips were distorted in a _very_ familiar way, his eyes and eyebrows narrowed, his expression exactly like that of Misaki's middle school strict Japanese sensei.

"KI-KUN! MI-CHAN! AKASHI-KUN! MIDORIN! TAKAO-KUN! KASAMATSU-KUN! You're all here already… I was going to be on time, but our lateness is _all_ because of this stupid Dai-chan who woke up late from his nap as usual!"

"Oi, Satsuki, don't blame me like that! I woke up half an hour later than I was supposed to, which is much better than my usual habit of oversleeping! Anyway, you were supposed to wake me up, remember? And you didn't!"

"I went to your house and knocked on the door a million times and you didn't wake up! I even played your favourite heavy metal and rock songs at full blast and nothing happened! So many people stared at me outside, mou, so embarrassing…"

Misaki's face turned slightly pinkish as she noticed Daiki moving down towards Kise's house, swinging his lanky arms and shouting to Satsuki from quite a distance away.

After not seeing him for so long, she felt stiff around him compared to the closeness that they shared two years ago. Beyond awkward.

Daiki, noticing Misaki, abruptly stopped in his tracks and waved hi to her somewhat sheepishly before continuing to shout at Satsuki, as the childhood friends progressed into a sort of argument once again.

Misaki rolled her eyes as she went into Kise's house together with everyone else, Kasamatsu trying to walk off subtly with his kouhai pulling him back into the house impatiently, with an innocent smile plastered on his clearly-not-so-innocent face.

Then there was the very opposite with Midorima yelling at Takao to get him to _shove off_ and _mind his own business,_ and Takao grinning and making his way into the house as if he was invited to the gathering.

As she placed her overnight bag in a small corner of the house, she felt a gentle tap on the shoulder, and flinched momentarily.

"Hello, Misaki-san. You seem to be doing fine."

Releasing a breath that she didn't know that she had been holding in, Misaki turned and found Kuroko Tetsuya looking at her in a friendly way, his emotions only unmasked by the slight change in his expression.

"Hey, Tetsu! I haven't seen you in so long. You seem to have grown taller… It's nice that everyone's here~"

With a knowing gaze, Tetsuya quickly turned around and stood behind a somewhat shocked Kise – who started hugging him immediately after realising that he was the beloved Kurokocchi, and the bluenette reprimanded, "Misaki-san, please don't take mental notes on our physical statistics at a gathering. Momoi-san, same goes for you…"

Satsuki stopped glancing around the room curiously, and both girls looked guiltily at Tetsuya with a sheepish smile. Kasamatsu instantly walked off quickly as soon as Kise's attention wandered, and the other Teikou team members nodded with a knowing grin.

The two managers were more dangerous than most people would think, and the moment you let your guard down in front of them, you would be analysed, decoded, actions predicted and all your personal data would essentially be leaked.

So much for privacy and personal data protection guidelines from the government.

"Ah, anyway… Did anyone see Murasakibaracchi? He isn't here yet~"

As if on cue, everyone looked out of the window simultaneously, and there he was – a two metre tall purple giant munching on some snacks, with an ebony-haired teen accompanying him.

He had finally arrived.

 **X**

Comic relief coming up soon in the next chapter! I tried to make this more lighthearted to relieve you readers from all the emotional drama and angst. Once again, thank you for reading this far ily.


	19. That Sinking Feeling

[A/N]: Thank you for **FADEBELLY, Firegirl4343, L7I** and **Yatsuhashi** for adding this to your story subscription list! **animefreak112097** Haha thank you I'm really happy that someone likes them as much as I do! Though I like writing slow-burn so you might have to wait for a while... readers please continue to comment on my story in order to help my writing skills to improve. It is very encouraging to receive reviews on my story, whether good or bad, I'll be very happy to get them.

By the way, I might be busy for the next few months, so expect slower updates, sorry!

There will be lots of action in this chapter compared to the previous ones, so happy reading!

 **X**

"Murasakibaracchi~"

"Mukkun, you're late! We miss you~"

"Murasakibara-san."

"Atsushi, you're late."

"Murasakibara-kun, hello!"

Himuro looked at the sea of people that was pouring out of Kise Ryouta's house and was pleasantly surprised. The purple-haired giant had only mentioned that 'a couple of old friends' were meeting up, and here was a whole mass of people greeting him.

"Atsushi, I didn't know you were so popular… Go say hi!"

Atsushi's only reaction was to grunt softly and continue to demolish the snack he held in his hands, until Himuro gently prised it off him, earning a mildly irritated look.

"Atsushi, it's rude not to say hi back to your friends. Finish it quickly and go and join them. Don't be antisocial."

Atsushi nodded meekly, took the chocolate bar before finishing it off and walking towards the house together with his companion. Himuro smiled with amusement. It was funny to see how he responded to instructions so quickly and easily.

Studying the people before him, Himuro's interest was piqued instantly. He recognised an indigo-haired girl from a previous match that he had attended, and she had already captured his attention then.

Imayoshi Misaki. Sister of the Touou Academy basketball team captain. Close friend from Teikou Middle School of the Kiseki no Sedai.

She was standing together with Momoi Satsuki, the Touou manager he had just met a few weeks ago, and eyed her curiously. Her eyes were laughing in a carefree way, and her hair swayed in the wind effortlessly.

 _Pretty._

Though she wasn't strikingly or jaw-dropping beautiful, he found her refreshing.

Coming over to meet the two Yousen players, the Teikou graduates ran over to say hi, and he noticed that Imayoshi Misaki carried herself in a special way that seemed different from the lax way the typical teenage girl carried herself.

Himuro liked it.

It was a sense of…

He didn't know how to describe it, but it seemed like the way a professional would.

Smiling at him politely in greeting, Misaki continued to chatter away to her friends as they brought him and Murasakibara near the house.

Himuro grew more and more curious about her.

This was the girl who used strategy in order to help Teikou and Rakuzan win major basketball competitions, and this was the girl who befriended all the members of the Generation of Miracles in middle school.

For some reason Himuro thought that there was something special about her; the way she managed to do everything and complete tasks when she had to; the way she somehow got along with all of those oddball Generation of Miracles

During the match, he had seen her taking charge of the players and instructing them to do things, uncannily like Coach Araki; talking quietly to Akashi Seijuurou and the Rakuzan coach Eiji Shirogane on strategy; bringing refreshments over for the exhausted players.

Himuro was a master at observing people's actions and understanding their motives and emotions, and Misaki was no different from most.

He really wanted to get to know this girl better.

Walking just a bit faster in order to catch up with her, Himuro finally reached her side and lightly tapped her shoulder, causing her to turn around.

A pair of luminescent orbs the colour of midnight looked back at him steadily, flashing in the sunlight.

"Hello, I'm Himuro Tatsuya, Atsushi's second-year teammate from Yousen. I recognise these people here as the Generation of Miracles, and as Atsushi mentioned, this is a meeting with old friends, so you are…?"

Himuro pretended not to know her name as he turned on his full charm, smiling at her with that perfectly effortless Mona Lisa smile of his. In response, Misaki's body twitched slightly, her face flushing a little, and she bit her lip in embarrassment.

All these were subtle movements, but none of which escaped Himuro Tatsuya's observant eyes.

"Hello, Himuro-kun! I'm Imayoshi Misaki, from Rakuzan High. I used to be Murasakibara-kun's schoolmate as I knew his teammates in Teikou, so that's why I'm here today to meet up with them."

Himuro marvelled at the way Misaki smoothly brushed off his sly way of talking so easily, only feeling a bit embarrassed and speaking awkwardly because she wasn't used to talking in that way to strangers.

Atsushi after all had mentioned that the first time he met Imayoshi Misaki, when he tapped on her shoulder and she turned around, her eyes "bulged till they were the size of saucers" and she "said hi before walking away really quickly".

Looks like she was a bit awkward with meeting anyone new, not just himself. Good news for Himuro, who had an unofficial fanclub in school, with almost every female in the population falling at his feet or swooning endlessly once they saw him.

Although it was rather nice to know that the opposite gender liked him a lot, Himuro was extremely uncomfortable with the excessive attention the girls in school and outside would give him, and the occasional dirty looks the other males would send him at times if the girls got too out of hand in their admiration for him.

"Why did you come with Murasakibara-kun, anyway? Or were you going out with him before coming here?"

Curious eyes dwelt on his, and Himuro started a conversation with the girl as the both of them entered the house and began placing their bags down, Himuro glancing at Murasakibara occasionally.

"Yes, I was eating lunch with him beforehand. Looks like the same goes for the rest and their friends, and sorry that we're late… By the way, I'm just curious, what are your relationships with the Teikou basketballers?"

"I was in the second string in Teikou basketball, and hung out with Daiki and Tetsuya frequently to practise. Then through them I got to know Satsuki, then the rest of the basketball team."

She smiled, but Himuro could somehow sense that it wasn't a completely sincere and open smile like the one that she had given him beforehand during her introduction. More of a smile that concealed hidden emotions.

It reminded Himuro of his own fake smiles that he would have on his face whenever he was dealing with particularly difficult people like unreasonable teachers.

Urgh.

"Mi-chan, come and help me unpack! Ki-kun's talking about the room allocation now and he gave me a key, and since we're girls the both of us are sharing rooms~ Come up with me to see!"

Misaki abruptly turned around before Himuro could say anything in response, and smiled apologetically before gathering her stuff and following Momoi Satsuki to enter their room. For some reason, the Touou manager was looking at him stiffly before she turned around and left.

 _Why was it that whenever he wanted to make friends, those people disliked or were immune to his charm, and whenever he didn't want to attract any attention, those people would be way too friendly towards him?_

Biding goodbye to Atsushi, Himuro left the house, and sighed.

Attention didn't like him much.

 **X**

Misaki and Satsuki dumped their heavy bags onto the floor beside their individual beds, and heaved their bodies onto the beds, flopping down like rag dolls and yawning tiredly.

"I had to go grocery shopping with Akashi and Kise, and you know how Kise is, right? All hopping around happily and walking really fast in front, with Akashi keeping up, and me having to speed up just to be at the same pace as them…"

"That situation is way better than mine, Mi-chan! At least what you do is relaxing and you have fun. _I_ had to spend the entire day with Dai-chan in both school _and_ after because we had extra basketball practice for really long, and we had to eat lunch together as well. Dai-chan took his afternoon nap and overslept, and…"

The two girls continued exchanging stories of irritating classmates, teammates and friends as they slowly unpacked before letting Kise give them a "tour" around his house.

Actually, the idea of a meet-up had been crafted by Kise, Kuroko and a somewhat unwilling Midorima since two months ago, according to what the Kaijo basketball player said. After a lot of hesitation, Kise's house was chosen as the location, since his parents were currently overseas and his house was _huge._

The only thing that they worried about was his two older sisters, but Kise had reassured them that they would be more likely to bother and annoy their younger sibling instead of his innocent friends.

Swinging around a banister, Kise began walking around excitedly and showing the various aspects of his home to them.

"See, Misacchi and Momocchi, there's a _huge_ space there to practise basketball, and also Akashicchi, there's a big patch of grass over there with no dangerous rocks for us to do strength training, urm, if you like…"

 _Why was Akashi always mentioned whenever there was tiring strength training involved?_

Misaki smiled at Akashi as the other basketball players fidgeted uncomfortably at the thought of tiring training involved in the supposedly lighthearted gathering, again by the fearsome ex-Teikou captain.

In their hearts, Akashi Seijuurou would always be the true captain of all of them ex-Teikou schoolmates.

"Why would I put all of you through tiring training sessions? In order to make Rakuzan's winning easier, training will definitely not be provided unless you _are_ from Rakuzan. Why should I help other schools improve?"

Misaki chuckled at Akashi's response, and she could actually see Daiki letting out a breath in complete and utter relief. Akashi was still rather intimidating, after all.

Walking around a little more, the group decided to change and go for some swimming.

Originally, Misaki had brought a modest, covered-up swimsuit (which Satsuki called "aunty and old-fashioned" – who could blame her?) for swimming in order to not be embarrassed in front of her male friends, especially since she was the type to be embarrassed to show even the slightest bit of skin in a flashy sort of way.

At the same timeher friend Momoi Satsuki had instead brought a _bikini suit_ for herself to wear, and well, Misaki was perfectly fine with her wearing it, since she herself wasn't the one who had to wear that.

But _nooo,_ Satsuki had other plans in mind, and had actually bought an identical bikini set for Misaki to wear as well, claiming that it would be nice if they managed to wear identical swimming suits.

As she looked at the bikini set, Misaki scrunched up her nose, not liking the amount of skin it would show, and heck would she look ugly with all her fats…

"Satsuki, don't you think our skin would be slightly too exposed by wearing this? I mean, we're only 16 years old…"

"Mi-chan, don't be an old grandmother! You're _so_ old-fashioned I can't stand it! Everyone wears bikinis nowadays! It's fine, it's not super immodest or anything. Besides, it would be _kawaii desu_ if both of us turn up with matching sets~"

Misaki wanted to cry, but since Satsuki had bought it especially for that occasion and for her, she grudgingly agreed to wear it, and her friend responded with shouts of delight.

 _And there was going to be Daiki and Akashi there…_

God, she wanted to die.

"Satsuki, don't be too happy. I only agreed because you bought it specially for me, and I don't want to waste your money. If not for that I would _definitely_ not wear it at all."

"Ne, Mi-chan, don't be a spoilsport! As long as you're wearing it, it's fine~ Remember Dai-chan will be there, and he can finally see you in something other than plain old-fashioned covered-up clothes~"

"SATSUKI! WHAT THE _HELL_ DO YOU MEAN?"

Satsuki batted her eyelashes innocently, as Misaki was on the verge of exploding in exasperation.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe Dai-chan will be more interested. He's so shallow, he'd stoop to that length, and besides, although it isn't as big as mine, you have quite a big ch – "

"Satsuki, shut up!"

 **TIME SKIP**

Carrying their light bags, the two girls made their own way down to the Kise house's enormous pool where they applied sunblock and waited for the guys to come down.

For some reason Satsuki and Misaki didn't see the boys at _all_ when they were busy chatting in their room, except for one time when Akashi popped in and told them that they were going swimming.

Groaning as the sun burned down on them, Satsuki squeezed out yet more sunblock from that tiny tube of hers, glancing at the blue sky while grimacing at the intense heat.

"Mi-chan, if I had known that there would be sun this bad, I would have brought a stronger SPF sunblock and a bigger tube… Now later if we play basketball or stay out for longer I might have to re-apply and then use up all of it…"

Misaki merely shrugged in response and capped her sunblock before adjusting her goggles, getting ready to swim. She was kind of used to the hot, hot summer sun because of her fierce captain in second string that basically forced all of them to run daily during the summer holidays without getting a single sip of water.

Looks like that demonic captain she had when she was a little first-year – who particularly enjoyed bullying kouhai, by the way – actually turned out to be her guardian angel, especially nearing the summer in the weeks before the holidays started.

While her classmates started cursing at the heat and bringing their own mini fans, Misaki merely shrugged the temperature off and bore with it. Sitting in class at 33 degrees was much more bearable than running 3km in the sun at 35 degrees. Besides, she didn't have a fearsome captain shouting at her to hurry up and threatening to double or even triple her training regime.

"Mi-chan, don't tell me that because of all those years with basketball training, you actually got used to the Tokyo summer heat…?"

"Yeah, Satsuki. _You_ could have managed to do that, by running and going out to exercise together with the boys while also making sure Daiki did his exercises, instead of relaxing in the air-conditioned gym, watching them suffer."

Satsuki huffed in mock offense and crossed her arms, raising one arm to shade her eyes from the intense sunlight.

Then as Misaki jumped into the pool, she heard an equally loud splash come from behind her and as she was about to turn around, a pair of arms grabbed her shoulders tightly all of a sudden, causing her to scream a little in shock.

A flash of golden hair caught her eye, and Misaki mock-groaned as her shoulders got gripped slightly tighter, and her body began swishing around in the water like a hurricane, with a pained smile on her face, with six other amused faces staring right back at her.

A little water entered her mouth, and she lightly coughed to get it out, while trying to splash some water on her attacker.

"Kise, did you _have_ to spin me around and interrupt my swimming just as I was about to start? Can't you wait till later to torture me?"

"Ne, Misacchi, you're a mean person… And we should enjoy and relax in this nice warm sun together as friends first before actually exercising seriously!"

Misaki could hear Satsuki huff audibly at the mention of the "warm" sun – and that was from a few metres away – and nodded grudgingly at Kise's remark. She should be spending more time with her friends, after all.

Two years had gone by in a flash, and it was time to start catching up.

On cue, her attacker dunked her into the water, and she squealed as the ice cold liquid engulfed her entire face, the entire team laughing as both of them were submerged in the water.

 _Kise Ryouta…_

She was going to kill him.

 **AKASHI**

Wading his way into the swimming pool, Akashi couldn't help but eye the blond-haired model in irritation as he wrapped his arms around the Rakuzan manager yet again, causing her to purse her lips together exaggeratedly, as if she were exasperated with his behaviour.

That bare chest of his pressing against that bare back of hers…

As the rest of the Teikou graduates plopped into the pool, he shot one of his trademark death glares at Kise, and it produced an obvious reaction.

Within seconds, Kise had let go of Misaki, turned red in the face, apologised for his behaviour to the obviously confused girl – although it was mostly to Akashi, in fact – and had swum away to the edge of the pool, still apologising.

Smirking to himself in satisfaction, Akashi made his way to beside the indigo-haired teen, and her face instantly lit up with a small little cute smile. Forget about the awkwardness from _that_ night.

He couldn't help but admire Misaki's swimsuit. Misaki's skin _was_ a little exposed – she had complained so loudly about that issue earlier that Akashi was sure everyone else in the house had heard her too – but after all, her skin was almost flawless.

It was tanned a little, but not too dark, just nice. Akashi didn't really like those girls who over-applied sunblock and cream in order to remain lily-white and supposedly beautiful.

 _And her curves were all in the right places._

His own thoughts sounded a bit perverted to the gentlemanly Akashi, but it was true.

 _Ryouta, you may act way friendlier with her, but after all, I'm from the same school, and will continue to be for the next two years._

Momoi splashed into the pool after a few minutes of fanning herself, complaining and Daiki's taunts, and placed her hands together and rubbed hard, still shivering in the cold pool water.

"Do you guys want to play a game of water polo? The water here is quite shallow, and since all of you are basketball players and super tall, it shouldn't be a problem~ We can split into 4 and 4, Mi-chan and I being on one side each to make the odds equal!"

Momoi burst out excitedly, looking from boy to boy, hoping that they would approve.

Midorima nodded, unconsciously pushing up the glasses on his face before realising in embarrassment that they weren't there; Aomine scratching his head lazily and yawning again; Murasakibara flopping his hair and looking around; Kise smiling and nodding happily like a little puppy.

They were going to play with one another again…

Akashi's eyes were both fully crimson at this point, and he smiled genuinely at the six of them standing before him, emotions overwhelming his soul.

"Lets do this."

 **MISAKI**

"So Group A will have Akashi-kun, Midorin, Tetsu-kun and me, while Group B will have Dai-chan, Mukkun, Ki-chan and Mi-chan. As we discussed earlier, each time the ball ends up dropping onto the water, the opponents gain a point, and the team who wins 50 points first wins!"

Misaki felt a little prickle of happiness at being placed in the same group as Daiki but was slightly disappointed that Akashi wasn't, as she moved over to the other side of the pool to take her position.

Though it was pretty obvious that putting Daiki in the same group as her was just Satsuki's way of trying to match the two of them up yet _again._

For Akashi, although it _would_ be nice to have him playing on the same side, it would still be awkward between them after that incident. Sure, Misaki could be natural for a few minutes in front of the redhead, but then she would remember and be so embarrassed she wouldn't be able to talk anymore.

 _Just what was Akashi doing on that night?_

A few days had passed, and Akashi still hadn't said anything, continuing to act his normal self when he was together with her. Surely if he had meant something, he would have said it by now.

Basically, Akashi thought it was a mistake…

Misaki bit her lip as she tried her best to smile at the ganguro beside her, before waiting for the game to begin.

 _There's no time to think about these trivial things now! Concentrate!_

Tossing the ball high up, Daiki easily hit the inflated volleyball up to the other side – marked by two tacky plastic poles that they had found in Kise's home – and the game began.

Akashi instantly leapt up high and hit the ball towards Satsuki, who was taken by surprise, shrieking loudly and almost failing to catch the volleyball as her arms flailed in the air comically, barely managing to hit it.

Misaki grinned as the childhood friend of the girl in question smirked and muttered something like "stuu-pid" under his breath.

As the volleyball went flying in the air, Tetsu appeared almost magically and used his hands to propel it to Midorima, who tried his best to hit it down into the "court" of Misaki's team, but ended up making the ball go up.

"Too much Shooting Guard training, Midorin!"

 _Criticizing others before thinking about yourself, Satsuki…_

Misaki smirked.

Satsuki shrieked in annoyance, as a certain purple giant managed to catch the ball easily from a great height before passing it to Misaki, who jumped up as high as she could and hit it down as hard as possible onto the water on Group A's side.

 _Shit, that was too low, what happened to my arm strength? Now it'll end up on our side instead…_

Then as the ball went "splash", Misaki grinned as it barely landed on the other side, with not even Akashi attempting to receive it, all shell-shocked. Looks like her decreased arm strength had fooled everyone, including herself.

Suddenly a shadow was cast over her as she turned around to high-five Daiki, and she could feel a huge hand rubbing her hair and patting her head.

"What…"

Misaki stopped speaking, as her head tilted up and she saw Murasakibara Atsushi removing his palm and barely mumbling something under his breath.

"Misa-chin is a good scorer… I didn't expect Misa-chin to score that easily…"

She smiled. Murasakibara reminded her of a cute younger cousin to be taken care of, except much taller and slightly more mature.

"Arigato, Murasakibara-kun!"

She was glad that the tall Yousen player liked her, since Daiki had mentioned a million times before that Murasakibara had little friends and companionship, only liking certain people after a period of time.

Glancing across the pool, Misaki shot a happy smile towards Akashi intentionally as the redhead frowned and cast her a look that clearly said: next time, I'll crush you. And unfortunately for Akashi, the only thing that did was to make Misaki smile even wider.

 **TIME SKIP**

Panting a little, Aomine Daiki got out of the pool and sat on the tiled floor around it, looking around at all the faces around him, that bore similar expressions of exhaustion. It wasn't basketball, but it still involved similar techniques, and furthermore it was in the water.

Looking at a particular indigo-haired girl, Aomine smiled a little strangely as he studied her swimsuit as she was getting out of the pool slowly.

Her chest seemed to have grown a little larger, her arms skinnier, and her form…

He couldn't help but wolf-whistle as he continued to stare at his old friend, before five pairs of outraged eyes glared at him at the same time, and he cringed at his mistake.

Midorima that rigid ass was staring at him most disapprovingly – likely only because of the so-called "hooligan-like" whistle that he made –, Kise and Akashi glaring at him as if he had violated her privacy or something, with the latter searching into the depths of his soul scarily.

Satsuki was scowling at him for ogling his own friend – as usual, she had been watching him earlier on – and Misaki was just embarrassed and angry at the same time, glaring at him with a slight redness in her cheeks.

Not that it was _his_ fault that Misaki's body had suddenly grown so damn attractive…

Watching a certain redhead plop down beside Misaki and smile at her in a bloody friendly way, Aomine's frown deepened. Damn that Akashi Seijuurou. First he made Misaki the Rakuzan team manager, then afterwards got to spend lots and lots of time with her in Kyoto together.

Now they were so close, even closer than he was to Misaki now, and Aomine wanted to bang his head on the floor tiles in irritation.

 _Wait, why am I irritated that Akashi's getting close to Misaki. Shouldn't I be glad that Misaki can be happy again…?_

Aomine rubbed his head in confusion and growing annoyance at himself, as he watched the two Rakuzan students talk to each other comfortably, with Satsuki looking on at the two of them with a raised eyebrow, directed at her childhood friend.

Akashi was looking at Misaki in a special way, a way that was different from how he usually looked at other people. And Aomine didn't like it.

Then, Akashi swept a lock of Misaki's hair behind her ear, and he could see the indigo-haired girl's cheeks becoming a little redder than they usually were.

Yup, he _definitely_ didn't like it.

Screw that _arrogant, tyrannical…_

Was this the emotion that was known as jealousy?

 **X**

I apologise for the lack of much humour here as I had mentioned earlier, but in the end this chapter's game stretched out much longer than I had anticipated! Writing content is really hard to predict and sometimes new interesting ideas pop out of nowhere, and hence they are written down. The gathering of the Kiseki no Sedai not only involves the Teikou people, look out for more surprising arrivals of other characters.

Aomine and Akashi's feelings are going to be incorporated more heavily into the story as the feelings between those three are _finally_ going to reach somewhere in the later chapters that will be coming up, but this story's romance is a side thing and rather slow-burning so patience, guys and once again, if you have any suggestions or feedback, please comment in the box below because it _is_ useful to my writing and the development of the story in general and I would really appreciate it.


	20. Dai-chan, Mi-chan and Akashi

[A/N]: Thank you for the reviews and whew, we're already onto chapter 20! Thank you everyone for reading this story and supporting me as a writer :). Thank you **Another Mad Fangirl, AmazingAmazon, TheRavenSlayer13, eniluapp** and **longlongnights** for adding this to your story subscription list! Also, thank you **Another Mad Fangirl** for your review, it really cheered me up ! Please continue to feedback on my story or tell me of where you want the story to go to make it even better!

 **X**

Kise Tamaki arrived at her home's doorstep, weary and tired out from her part-time job. The university first year undergraduate was studying and working at a café at the same time, and she rarely got to see her little brother due to her busy schedule.

She still hadn't gotten used to the lifestyle of a university student, and was constantly worn out every single day by the long droning of her professors, and the activities that bugged her day and night.

Yesterday Ryo-chan had just sprung the surprise that his old middle school basketball teammates would be meeting up at the Kises' home – since as usual, Ryo had volunteered his empty house as a venue oh so _helpfully_ – and she was mentally preparing herself to be tired out from all of his friends.

At least she had made Ryouta promise that she wouldn't have to make any food for them. Working part-time at a café to ensure she had enough money was tiring enough (she was preparing food and serving dishes all day long), and she definitely didn't want to do the same thing at home.

Entering Ryo's room, she was pleasantly surprised to find a group of teenagers sitting on his bed, just casually talking and making conversation, as a particular girl sitting next to Ryo caught her eye.

She looked rather ordinary at first glance, but on second thought her eyes were luminescent and almost sparkling in the late afternoon sun, her hair perfectly flowing across her shoulders, and her smile quietly beautiful.

Kise Tamaki caught her breath and froze mid-air. So this was the girl that Ryo-chan kept talking about endlessly.

Well, she hadn't seen her before, but hearing many descriptions of her and the fact that she would be visiting this afternoon helped Tamaki deduce that this was _her._

Whenever Tamaki went home and managed to have dinner together with her brother who was in middle school back then, she would ask him about his school life and he would cheerfully reply that "Misacchi finally _ /smiled at me/said hi/walked with me to _ /scolded me meanly" that day.

When asked about this "Misacchi", he would burst into rapid speech.

"Misacchi is secretly a tsun-tsun like Midorimacchi who scolds me all the time for being loud and noisy, but she really likes me and she's very good at basketball for a girl~ She's the only girl besides Momocchi that isn't attracted to me that much, mou…"

Tamaki was surprised that there was actually a member of the female school population besides Momoi, Ryo's manager, who wouldn't be charmed by Ryo's model status and apparently unusually good looks.

Sitting down besides Ryo, Tamaki glanced at "Misacchi" curiously and decided to ask a question

"I heard a _lot_ of you from Ryouta, Misa… um, -san, sorry for my rudeness because I don't know your full name, but which school are you from? You were from Teikou, I recall. Along with everyone else here."

"Yep! Misacchi is in Rakuzan High with Akashicchi, because both of them won scholarships and they're really really smart~ Rakuzan's in Kyoto, so they stay in dormitories there~"

The said Misacchi smiled at Tamaki, before averting her eyes to Kise and rolling her eyes, causing the said blonde to pout in mock sadness.

"Are you sure about that, Ryo-chan? Maybe she's just trying to be polite to you. And failing to, since she just rolled her eyes at you in irritation. She's probably here just out of courtesy's sake."

His eyes widened adorably, and that sight reminded Tamaki of baby Ryouta sixteen years back, when she was just three years old, staring at her huge-eyed baby brother.

"Mou, Misacchi, tell me it isn't true~"

Turning his head, he found that the Rakuzan student was just nodding her head cynically, with Akashi smirking at the back and a hint of a smile appearing on Kuroko's face, with Tamaki grinning evilly.

Sighing, Ryouta merely gave the evil eye to his sister, who childishly stuck her tongue out at him. She could see the slight disappointment in her brother's eyes at the girl's cynical response.

From her conversations with her brother, Tamaki could tell instantly that Ryo-chan had feelings for this girl.

At first he had complained about the "devilish, strict and mean Misacchi" being his trainer in the basketball team's second string. Then, a few weeks later when he had been upgraded into first string, Ryo-chan told her that they were hanging out more often, together with his own teammates, and he was liking her better and better as he got to know her more.

Tamaki didn't realise until a few months later that her brother had actually liked the girl, and had actually teased him about it for some time before he confessed his true feelings about Misacchi to her.

Honestly, despite feeling some kind of pity that the indigo-haired girl hadn't said anything about her own feelings for him yet, Tamaki privately thought that it would do Ryo-chan a whole world of good to be the one who had to make an effort to attract a female's attention, instead of the other way around.

Everyone in Ryo-chan's life would always gravitate towards him naturally, and the attention he received was taken for granted. Unlike Tamaki, who had to practically fight for attention in university when there were super popular students around. Sometimes she even had to sit alone.

That was why she approved and encouraged Kise getting closer to his basketball team, which Tamaki had met many times before. Her little brother had to learn that not every social gathering was a walk in the park.

But two years ago everything had fallen apart, with the team members getting cold and distant, Ryouta the same. She definitely had noticed the change in her brother's usually excited attitude towards basketball.

At least in Kaijou he was happier, and had nice teammates.

Still, meeting all his middle school teammates, whom he had cultivated the love of basketball with, was nice. And they all seemed to have changed now, into better, nicer people. Here was another small little challenge for Ryo-chan. Someone who absolutely refused to notice him, no matter what he did in order to make her pay attention to him.

"I know it seems a bit formal, but… can you guys introduce yourselves? I haven't seen you guys in two years, and I kind of need to know you guys better. And Misa-san, so that I can get to know you…"

Ryouta nudged the green-haired shooter beside him, and the stoic boy cleared his throat before beginning.

"I am Midorima Shintarou, as you know, and I am currently enrolled in Shuutoku High. I am a member of the basketball club, and a regular who plays in matches often. My star sign is Cancer, blood type…"

" _Midorin_ , Tamaki-san here doesn't need to know your blood type or star sign! Also, everyone knows you're a regular and a basketballer. Like everyone else here except us girls! Mou…"

Satsuki burst out in irritation, and then hurriedly covered her mouth as the teal-haired boy beside her looked at her curiously at her sudden outburst.

"N-nothing, Tetsu-kun! S-sorry, I was just impatient…"

"It's fine, Momoi-san, what you said was true, anyway."

Midorima huffed in annoyance, with Satsuki's cheeks turning pink and Kuroko smiling just a little. Tamaki chuckled. Satsuki would always one to be shy around her crush, no matter the situation.

"My first name is Tetsuya if you have forgotten, Tamaki-san, and I am in Seirin, a fairly new school."

"I think you know my name already, Tamaki-san… I'm Touou Gakuen's team manager – in charge of Dai-chan here – and am his official babysitter~"

"Oi, Satsuki, don't bullshit! Urm, sorry, Tamaki-san…"

Aomine was always so cute when he got shy. For some reason Tamaki figured that the ganguro was a little afraid of her, and up till now she still didn't know why, but she exploited that weakness sometimes. Useful tactic to get Aomine up and going.

"Obviously I'm Aomine Daiki, from Touou. Yeah, basically. Oi, Murasakibara, your turn!"

The ganguro…

Bad memories flickered by in her brain, and she pursed her lips, looking at Aomine carefully. This was the start of all the trouble, and the source of Kise's extreme emotions.

"Mhmm? Oh, I'm Atsushi, and I like snacks a lot. I attend Yousen, and hm, this new Hi-Chew flavour is pretty good… Oh, eh, I play basketball."

"I'm Misaki, used to be from the Teikou basketball second string, and now I'm the Rakuzan team's manager, but my bro Shouichi's actually Daiki's captain …"

Tamaki gazed at her curiously. She remembered this guy Imayoshi Shouichi, her direct kouhai when she was in her second year in Teikou, a happy-looking first year whom she always spotted smiling – someone she mentored as a senior prefect when he was a junior.

She remembered him because she had been a prefect, and had booked him once before for forgetting to bring his badge, but he still had smiled and thanked her, to her surprise. She'd even given him a recommendation for his head prefect campaign.

To think that this calm-looking girl was his sister. Well, Tamaki _could_ spot some similarities. Both of them tilted their heads in the same way when answering a question, and that way of looking awkwardly elsewhere after a conversation was finished…

Still, she had heard some rumours about Imayoshi Shouichi in her third year in Kaijou from her basketball friends' kouhai. Apparently he was fearsome, way-too-intelligent and knew how to manipulate the Kaijou team to his liking.

Tamaki had been downright shocked by that description, and had wondered what happened to that innocent, smiling first year she had booked four years ago. Looking at his sister now, she wondered if that little glimmer of pain behind those mysterious orbs was just a figment of her imagination, or not.

As she joined a game of Monopoly, she began to see why Ryouta liked her so much. That natural confidence of hers, that subtle little smile, deliberate pouting when things didn't go her way, plus that resistance against Ryouta's charm which naturally drew him to her…

 **X**

 **AKASHI**

"Yo, anyone up for another game of cards… Hm, maybe Snap, or something, I can't find anything else… Do you want to play basketball instead again?"

Kise suggested eagerly as he rummaged through his store of card games, finding no new ones left and turning to their favourite sport again. While Aomine's eyes lit up at the suggestion, everyone else shrugged their shoulders, neutral with everything.

"Kise, maybe not now. We just swam and played volleyball, so Momoi and Misaki might be tired. Besides, do you want to go to bed sweaty and hot or shower twice today? We would have to do that if we play again."

Kise sighed in disappointment, and Akashi almost felt bad for crushing his hopes. The moods of the eight people were quite down, and honestly the gathering didn't turn out to be what he expected. It was too early for making dinner, so…

"Ah! I know~ Ki-kun, do you want to organise a kind of dance party? We haven't had one in forever, and it would be really really fun. Also I want to show all of you some new songs that I just added to my playlist that are quite nice…"

Kise's eyes immediately lit up, as Akashi groaned inwardly, glancing at Midorima – whom obviously would look the weirdest dancing – who, unsurprisingly, choked on an apple and looked as if he wanted to jump off the balcony in Kise's room any moment now.

Momoi came out with the most outrageous ideas, that could always brighten up Kise's day. Unfortunately, they didn't sit very well with Akashi. But he didn't want to be a wet blanket, so…

"Maybe we can eat an early dinner, then have more time to dance later. I mean, it's near 5.30pm already, and it might take some time to cook…"

Misaki suggested, and as Akashi turned to look at her, there was a subtle change in the colour of her cheeks. It was subtle, but he noticed every single little detail about her. No escaping _his_ gaze.

Anyway, glancing at the now red-faced Misaki, Akashi smiled to himself. It would be interesting, dancing together with _her._ He would make her lose control of herself once again tonight.

His heart began racing faster and faster, thumping hard against his ribcage for almost no reason at all. Usually he would absolutely detest dancing, but… This was different.

The only girl he was actually willing to dance with was Misaki. Lots of other girls he had met at society functions because of the Akashi's business were either dancing with him snobbishly like a typical heir, or acting cute because they wished to attract his attention.

She was way different from those shallow creatures that he had seen enough of.

Gazing at her uplifted chin, talking to Kise Tamaki and Aomine, Akashi smiled to himself once again, before eyeing _him_ with a _look._

 _Aomine Daiki, you might have known Misaki for a longer time, but you had hurt her, and…_

 _I definitely have the upper hand here._

 **AOMINE**

 _I definitely have the upper hand here._

That was exactly what he was thinking as he could sense Akashi Seijuurou looking at Misaki from a distance away.

Aomine could tell that the redhead felt something different for Misaki than he did for most people. Sure, he could be kind and friendly sometimes, but those occasions were rare, almost non-existent.

But lately around Misaki he realised that the Rakuzan captain had been talking a lot, _smiling_ at her – not with that creepy ass smirk that he usually had on to demonstrate his superiority or something, but with a genuinely happy expression – and generally acting _strange._

That behaviour might seem normal for a regular person, but Akashi Seijuurou was definitely _not_ your regular relaxed teenager. Aomine was a tad bit curious about the change in behaviour of his old captain. Maybe Misaki was rubbing off him, or he simply felt more comfortable around her. They had spent a lot of time together in Rakuzan, after all…

But still, he had only known her for, what? Four months? Five? And with Tetsu, Akashi had known him for three freaking years, but still acted rather coolly towards him compared with the indigo-head.

Aomine tried to convince himself that those feelings he had were out of worry for Misaki, but deep inside he knew that he was just simply, simply jealous of Akashi Seijuurou, who hadn't made any mistakes with her, who hadn't hurt her, who got to spend another two years with her…

Urgh. Jealousy sounded too cheesy for him.

But honestly, it was the best word to fit his current situation.

Fighting the urge to give Akashi the evil eye – from experience he remembered that the redhead noticed every single little thing others did and retaliated–, Aomine simply carried on his stilted conversation with Kise's elder sister and Misaki.

With Misaki he was slightly stiff because they were just becoming friends again, even _if_ they called each other at least once a week and met up occasionally, but talking to her was much less awkward than talking to Kise Tamaki.

For some reason every time they met she kept asking him a lot of questions, and somehow Aomine felt she disliked him, and was glaring at him sometimes for no reason at all. Maybe she had heard that he had beaten Kise or something in the recent Interhigh match. Still, Kise's sister wasn't that petty…

Yawning a little, Aomine leaned back and scratched his head uncomfortably, watching the blonde-haired older girl smile at Misaki, get up and walk elsewhere, probably her room.

"Oi, Misaki, don't you think Tamaki-san doesn't like me or something? She's giving me the evil eye, and…"

"Nah, she doesn't hate you. She probably likes you, since Kise admires you and stuff, so she might think you're a talented guy. And you're imagining that she gave you the evil eye. Tamaki-san was _smiling_ at you."

"Are you sure about that?"

Aomine sighed and slumped in defeat, hungry, as Misaki continued nonchalantly chewing on a bun that Tamaki had just offered to her earlier. Talk about favouritism.

Suddenly, his stomach growled really loudly, and with slightly red cheeks, Aomine put his palms on his stomach and pretended nothing happened, with seven pairs of eyes immediately darting to his direction.

The first thing he saw was Misaki laughing and clutching that _oh so juicy-looking bun_ , and the second thing was Satsuki pursing her lips at him.

" _WHAT_ , Satsuki?"

"Ne, Dai-chan, you'll never learn to be polite…"

"What do you mean? I can't help it if my stomach growls when I'm hungry."

Aomine scowled, trying very hard to deflect attention away from his mistake. Even the usually expressionless Tetsu was making an obvious effort to stop himself from grinning now.

"Honestly, do you want a bite or something? I'm not that hungry…"

Turning his head away from Satsuki, Aomine was surprised to find Misaki holding up her _huge_ meat bun towards him, offering food to a very hungry Aomine. Misaki rarely offered food to other people around her, having a constantly hungry stomach.

Once during exams, Aomine actually heard her stomach growl loudly as he was sitting near her, and the girl's face had turned completely red in embarrassment. The teacher in charge merely gazed at her judgmentally, amidst small chuckles from the entire class, before turning away.

Sometimes, Misaki's appetite for food reminded him of a certain tall ex-Teikou centre. But her appetite wasn't just limited to consuming unhealthy snacks. More like she was constantly hungry for any food that was available to her.

"Oh, okay…"

Hesitating for a moment, Aomine stretched out his hand to receive the bun, and smiled a bit as both of their hands made contact, even if it _was_ only for less than a second.

Was it just him, or did Misaki avert her eyes away from him, and did her cheeks…?

No, it was probably just his own wishful thinking.

Biting into the huge bun hungrily, a little soup together with meat flooded into Aomine's mouth, and he sighed with contentment.

"Arigato, Misaki…"

"Nah, it's fine. I was just feeling a little full, that's all. You can finish all of it, I don't want to eat anymore."

Biting into the bun greedily once again, Aomine glanced at the bun's opening that Misaki had made earlier by biting down on it and a sudden thought popped into his brain.

 _If Misaki had bitten here…_

His eyes widened.

Shaking his head, Aomine mentally scolded himself for thinking of such cheesy and romantic thoughts. Usually he never thought about stupid trivial details like that, but for some reason whenever he was around Misaki weird things happened to him.

Then he was suddenly conscious of a certain redhead's glance at him yet again. Akashi's glances were hard to miss, and as piercing as a steel blade.

Urgh. Akashi Seijuurou, crudely put, was a huge pain in the ass to deal with. Especially concerning Misaki.

 **TIME SKIP**

 **MISAKI**

Turning up the volume, her best friend hummed along to the new pop song that had just been produced lately by her favourite band, and danced along animatedly, while dragging the unfortunate Misaki along with her.

"Don't you like this song, Misacchi? It's really nice…"

 _We're speeding through red lights into paradise_

She sucked in her breath at those lyrics momentarily as the chorus played, closing her eyes, suddenly thinking about the times those lyrics reminded her of.

 _'Cause we've no time for getting old_

When they were in middle school, laughing together outside convenience stores and jumping around in parks; making fun of one another and off-key singing their lungs out at midnight; grabbing mochi after mochi just to see who could stuff the most at one time in their mouth…

 _Mortal bodies, timeless souls_

The lyrics were really general, and perhaps she herself was exaggerating a little to herself, but honestly, honestly, she felt so old compared to those times. When everything in her world was all in perfect order, no heartbreaks, and all those accidents hadn't happened yet…

Releasing Satsuki's hand gently, she closed her eyes and focused on the music, listening, reminiscing the days…

Before a hand took hers once again, but tenderly.

Opening her eyes, she saw a set of crimson orbs looking at her, with a smile hidden in them almost sneakily, as he grinned at her.

"Do you want to dance? You seem to be enjoying this song."

Almost blushing, Misaki nodded and as Akashi placed a hand on her waist in a very old-fashioned pose, she tilted her head towards the ground to hide the totally _embarrassing_ expression on her face.

Hesitating, she put a hand on Akashi's shoulder as gently as possible, and tried not to avert her eyes from his as the both of them began dancing as well as they could. Well, that was the case for _her._ Akashi Seijuurou clearly knew how to dance.

"Urm, Akashi… How do you dance like that? I rarely do this kind of dancing, and since you seem to know the steps quite well…"

A smirk appeared on the redhead's face, as he leaned forward, his lips nearly touching her left ear, causing a shower of pink to rain all over her face.

"I'll tell you if you call me correctly, idiot."

So much for keeping calm in front of Akashi Seijuurou.

"Okay, _Seijuurou._ "

She whispered back, the tint on her cheeks becoming even darker, before elbowing him in the stomach.

He didn't even flinch.

Those ruby red eyes instead merely glanced even more deeply into her soul, searching, probing.

"Hey, what was _that_ for?"

He chuckled.

 _Screw you, Akashi Seijuurou._

"Idiot."

He chuckled even louder, his face breaking out into a rare smile – a smile that encompassed all the carefree emotions that the both of them knew that he would never be able to experience again in a long, long time.

"Okay, fine, _idiot,_ I'll teach you. First you have to point your toes on the ground, like this, as a start… Yes, that is correct, then tilt your ankle slightly sideways on your left… Yes…"

 _Cross your fingers, here we go_

Slowly but surely, Misaki began dancing in old-fashioned ballroom style, looking up hesitantly at Akashi for confirmation, the pair's eyes meeting every five seconds.

 _Oh, oh, oh_

The two of them danced gracefully alone in a little bubble of their own on the supposed dance floor, looking at each other, slightly flushing from the excitement and the enjoyment of being able to dance with each other.

 _And when the lights start flashing like a photo booth_

Twirling at one point, she felt a little burst of exhilaration and couldn't help breaking into a goofy smile, watching her partner smile at her, amused by her expression. Her heart skipped a beat at that gaze.

"Is my dancing passable so far, my consort?"

 _And the stars exploding_

He was helping her find her feet as smoothly as possible, holding her waist and her other arm softly, feeling her smooth skin and the soft fabric of her skirt, as she burst into a bright smile, something that he could stare at all day and not get tired of.

"My lady, I believe that your standard is sufficient for you to be able to receive the honour of dancing with me."

 _We'll be fireproof_

"Hah, what honour?"

Another quiet chuckle.

"Only fools wouldn't be able to see the honour in even being in my _presence._ "

 _Seijuurou…_

 _Misaki…_

 _I love this._

 _I love this._

The two of them were enraptured, in a little bubble of their own, and in a separate universe altogether, just simply dancing, relishing each other's presence, never wanting the dance to ever end.

 _I love us._

The songs changed and were shuffled according to Satsuki's strange playlist, and no matter what the two of them didn't notice anything else besides each other, and simply kept dancing, dancing on and on, not stopping.

Until the song changed to a rock song, and their eyes met for the hundredth time. As if they had some sort of unspoken communication between them, Akashi and Misaki abruptly stopped dancing, both of them lightly panting.

"Wow, wow, that was _romantic,_ Akashicchi,Misacchi~"

Turning around, Misaki found Kise's eyes enlarged and his mouth curved into an "o" shape, making finger hearts and grinning at both her and Akashi. She cringed in embarrassment and told him, with a red face, to "shove off".

Satsuki was looking at her somewhat disapprovingly, and Misaki knew all too well the reason behind _that._

"We weren't even vaguely romantic, Kise. Just dancing along to the beat of the music."

That was partially meant for Satsuki as well, as Misaki sent a pointed look to remind her best friend that she didn't have any hidden intentions when dancing with the Rakuzan captain.

"Mhmm, _sure,_ Misacchi… What about that intense eye contact both of you were having just now?"

"Kise, shut up."

But admittedly, her heart _did_ palpitate when she was dancing with him, and she nearly wanted to stop because of the flood of emotions pouring into her heart.

And she _so_ totally had hidden intentions of dancing with Akashi.

But then again, so did _he._

Ack.

 **X**

Akashi and Misaki's relationship which is currently platonic is going to develop pretty soon in the next chapter! Here is mostly comic relief and some humour as I wanted to make this chapter slightly less heavy than my usually emotion-packed content for some light reading.

Please don't worry about the Touou ace missing out, Aomine-lovers, and please be assured he will be having more time soon, because I realise I haven't featured him a lot in this story. The character development from middle school to high school will be explored in further chapters, as people can change a lot over a span of time.

The song is Youth by Troye Sivan by the way. Look forward to more fluff, and thank you readers for reading!


	21. Akashi?

[A/N]: AHHH I'm back! Sorry for the slightly longer wait! Just another warning that because this year has been hectic (and I'm expecting an even more hectic year in 2019) do bear with slower updates.

On a lighter note, thank you **skyrayle2021** for adding this to your story subscription list! Also, **animefreak112097,** this writer is really sorry but yeah it's been a bit tiring writing lately because of a little writer's block and a busy schedule…

Please read and review! This chapter is slightly more emotional than the last, and will involve deeper exploration of the characters' inner feelings and thoughts. Once again, please do comment for me to improve my writing. There will be lots of fluff in this chapter, but I do promise more action and friendship later.

 **X**

Akashi and Misaki moved off onto the balcony together to rest after a few minutes of being forced to dance along to the rock songs, worn out by the overly-loud music that Satsuki was currently blasting, which the two of them disliked.

Hair blowing in the wind, Misaki sighed heavily and leaned out even further, starting to think about strategies that her team could use during competitions.

She was supposed to have some quiet time and relax during the gathering with all her old friends, but she couldn't help but think about the state of her own basketball team while away from them.

Because of her and Akashi's absence, the team was going to be training on some days without anyone supervising at times because Kantoku couldn't possibly make it for all the sessions, which she personally reckoned was going to be absolutely disastrous.

It wasn't like the Rakuzan team was too lazy to practise, or had bad attitudes. It was just that… They got _too_ carried away by their love for basketball and generally, competition with one another a _lot._

Furthermore, she was afraid they might compete in stupid games – especially between that musclehead and that hyperactive leopard – like seeing who could do the most push-ups in one minute, that might potentially damage their physical strength and affect their play in matches.

Though Misaki did have a reputation for hellish training routines and torturing the boys during practice, she always ensured that the team never overexerted themselves till the point of destruction, and made sure the team took regular water breaks and rests.

At least Kantoku would be there _most_ of the time, right…

"Akashi, please remember to continue exercising during this gathering or else the training that you had for the past few days might wear off and the next time you train, you'll be even more tired!"

The boy just smiled slightly and nodded, before replying.

"We just played a game of volleyball in the swimming pool today, so I'm sure it'll be alright. Furthermore, if I have the time, I can use the huge empty grass patch out here in the Kise home in order to increase my strength. Perhaps even with the others, who might be worried of getting out of shape as well."

Acknowledging his speech, Misaki nodded and heaved a sigh of relief. If only everyone in the team could be as responsible as their captain.

But if they were _,_ then Misaki would end up having an entire team of intelligent, capable people, which wouldbe totally strange and odd for the manager who had been in a team of absolute idiots for the entire fifteen and a half years of her life.

 _Okay, maybe not._

"Misaki, do you know what love is?"

She almost choked at the question, looking questioningly at the heterochromatic-eyed boy who now stood looking at her.

 _Why was he, of all people, asking this strange question?_

If it was ever to be asked, Misaki would have immediately thought that Satsuki would be the person to pose such a cheesy query to her. But _Akashi?_ No. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined him behaving oddly like this, completely unlike his usual self.

"Love is…"

Dang. The first thing she thought of was the Oxford dictionary definition of that word.

 _A strong feeling of deep affection for somebody/something, especially a member of your family or a friend._

She had instinctively googled it up some time before this, on one cold night in a dorm that Rakuzan was staying at, at a time when she couldn't sleep.

Who knew why.

It sounded strange, and it wasn't the kind of response that Akashi was looking for.

Nah.

"Love is when you fall helplessly for someone for almost no reason at all, even if he or she is an absolute jerk or idiot, and is when rational thoughts are being cast aside. Love has no logic at all.

"It makes you happy, sad, jealous, angry and confused all at the same time. But if it's true love, it'll be one of the happiest times of your life, because you're in love with somebody, and your day will be brightened by him or her. You'll be happy just by seeing that special someone.

"It is based on feelings alone, so you absolutely cannot control whom you love. That is why you look at your parents sometimes and wonder why they love each other, or look at your cousin and wonder what's so special about his or her fiancé."

That was the case for Misaki. Why on earth would a kind and gentle man like her father fall in love with her devilish, strict and downright cruel mother? She asked that question to herself almost every day in the past.

Akashi nodded, and if Misaki's eyes weren't tricking her, his cheeks turned slightly…

 _No, no… He isn't – No, Akashi would never be doing something like that, even if he didn't mean to…"_

As he inched closer to her, Misaki couldn't help but bite her lip out, heart beating faster and faster…

 _Urgh, why do you get so anxious so easily when you're with him?_

 _Your emotions are being manipulated by this redhead too easily._

"So what are the signs of being in love?"

 _Wait, WHAT?_

She totally didn't understand why he was asking these questions, but alright…

"I can't really say, but… You're always thinking about her for no reason at all, and tend to smile or be happier when you're together with her. She makes your day, and you find the smallest details about her interesting or cute, thinking that she's amazing no matter what flaws she has."

 _Was he asking this because…?_

 _Does he like someone?_

Blushing furiously and then forcing her thoughts to go in another completely unrelated direction – about her old Teikou second string mates –, Misaki made herself look directly in his eyes.

She totally regretted that decision.

They seemed more emotional than usual, mysterious, dark and…

 _Even more mesmerising than usual._

"So Misaki, what do you say if…"

She held her breath as he eventually made her back press against the wall of the balcony, slowly but surely moving his left arm to place on the wall beside her, inching and inching even closer…

"I think I love you."

 _What?_

"In fact, I'm fairly certain."

She could just stare openly at him, brain too confused to process anything.

"I've displayed all of those signs you mentioned, and you… The other day I kissed you simply instinctively, for no reason at all. Well, love is irrational. As you probably know by now, I have two personalities, and my two eyes are always red when I am with you. So I suppose this is love."

"Are you willing to try… an experiment with me?"

Before she could even process what he had said, he leaned closer, pressing his lips against hers for the second time, slitting his tongue into her mouth slowly but surely, savouring the taste of her lips.

She tilted her head slightly and kissed him back; fire pulsating through her veins, her heart burning with a passion that she had never felt before, completely and utterly absorbed in him.

It felt good.

After running out of air, they broke apart at last, slightly gasping for air, and the other's lips left behind a taste on their own which they longed to taste once again.

And before Akashi Seijuurou even asked her once again, he already could tell the answer from the glimmering sparkle in her deep indigo eyes.

 _Yes._

As she impulsively pressed her lips against his once more, he closed his eyes in satisfaction as a warm feeling bloomed in his chest.

 _Yes._

And as they pulled apart, he could see fire mischievously dancing in those midnight orbs, dangerously taunting him.

"But didn't you already ask me the other day?"

His eyes taunted her back, beckoning her to come even closer.

"I did, but just for confirmation's sake…"

"How insecure of you, Akashi Seijuurou. I thought you'd be more confident than that."

That damned smirk of hers managed to turn out _cute_ for some irritating reason.

"Well, I'm not confident with someone like _you._ "

He bent down, wrapping her in a large hug, as her cheeks bloomed red once more.

Akashi Seijuurou smirked.

 _Turned the tables back on you, huh._

"Idiot."

His smirk grew bigger as his ears registered that one whispered word, full of emotion.

"But what about your father?"

That beautiful moment was instantly shattered.

He let go of her, and stared deeply into her eyes.

Those beautiful eyes.

"I'll think about it later. But for now…"

He smiled.

She smiled back.

 **X**

Walking back inside the room, Tamaki narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she noticed the Rakuzan pair – as she now called them inside her head – come back from the balcony, both of their cheeks strangely pinkish.

Tamaki had been watching the others dance themselves silly unlike their usual calm selves for the past few minutes, and had noticed that they had gone missing after a few songs, but didn't think that much about it.

But now if she didn't know better, seeing the pair walk in like this, Tamaki would have instantly thought and assumed that they were lovers or something. They looked so _cute_ together.

She was technically supposed to "dislike" Akashi being together with Misaki as an older sister of Ryouta who liked Misaki, but honestly when seeing them together like this, she somehow felt that the girl seemed more compatible with the redhead. They understood each other so well – Tamaki could tell just from their body language.

When listening to conversations among the Teikou graduates, Akashi always seemed to be slightly isolated from the rest of them, and less carefree. Whenever Misaki talked to him, he appeared less serious and smiled a little more.

And when she was with him, her face seemed to light up happily, and she had an aura around her that Tamaki didn't know how to describe exactly. But she was sure that she was always in one of her happiest moods when she was with him.

And what _were_ those lovebirds doing out there on the balcony, anyway?

"Misaki-san, what were you and Akashi doing out on the balcony? Everyone's dancing over here."

Was it just her, or did the Rakuzan manager blush a bit?

"Umm… We were just inhaling the nice night air, Tamaki-san. Also, we danced a little just now, so we're slightly tired. Maybe we'll continue to dance later?"

The boy beside her nodded, and they smiled at her before joining the rest.

Still confused, Tamaki made her way back into her room, where she resumed reading a book that her professor at university wanted them to analyse. But she couldn't concentrate on her homework, and ended up staring at the ceiling.

 _What was up with those two?_

 **ONE MINUTE LATER**

As Satsuki was dragging Dai-chan's slightly tired body along to the music, something caught his attention, and he turned his head back abruptly to look at whatever it was. Her eyes followed in the same direction, and they widened.

Misaki and Akashi were walking back into the Kises' living room from whatever they had been doing on the balcony, and Mi-chan was somewhat blushy. Barely noticeable, but Satsuki knew her friend's body language exceptionally well.

And what the hell, _Akashi Seijuurou_ of Rakuzan actually seemed to be in a _good_ mood for once.

She frowned and pulled apart from her childhood friend as she observed the two talking and sitting down on the couch together, watching the others continue to dance obliviously to the music.

Why was Mi-chan acting so friendly towards Akashi? And _why on earth_ was Akashi smiling at her and actually looking genuinely nice for once? Usually the redhead only smirked at others when he was demanding something from them, or was pleased with himself.

She sensed that something was different between those two once again, and turned with curiosity at how Dai-chan would react. As expected, he was frowning heavily as he watched those two get along, looking his usual grumpy self, but Satsuki knew different.

Dai-chan was just simply _jealous_ of Akashi Seijuurou, even if he would never admit it.

All that time spent together in Kyoto and as basketball friends must have made them grow closer together, and Dai-chan must have been feeling slightly left out. After all, he had only made up with her a few weeks ago.

She _did_ pity Dai-chan, especially when that proud ex-Teikou captain flashed him just a subtle little smirk that Dai-chan didn't see simply because he was too occupied with his troubles.

But Satsuki had a romantic mind, and to her, all was fair in love and war. Despite Dai-chan failing, it would be cool to see Mi-chan trapped in the middle.

How did she fall for the two of them, again?

 **TIME SKIP**

"Mi-chan, I saw you and Akashi-kun just now, and you were romantically together at the balcony alone. What were you guys dooo-ing~"

"Do you like him~ He's quite good-looking, you know~"

"He's super cold, how are you gonna deal with a _cold_ boyfriend on your hands…"

"Oh, and by the way…"

She flushed as her best friend probed her with totally embarrassing questions once again, overwhelming her mind as Satsuki pounced on her with every chance she got.

Since they were the only girls besides Tamaki in the household, they got to share a room, while the other boys all busily sorted out their own sleeping arrangements. And Misaki could still hear Kise's annoyed pouts coming from the corridor, saying something about "Kurokocchi being mean" or something.

"Gosh, Satsuki, you don't have to ask so many questions all at one go. And Akashi and I are just… good friends. Nothing more than that."

Fighting the urge to smile, Misaki put on the dead-est expression she had and she leaned back against the pillows, hoping against hope that her best friend wouldn't notice her lie.

 _After tonight, we're obviously not friends any longer, right?_

"Psh. As if I would fall for such an obvious lie. I _saw_ you when you were looking at Akashi just now, and it was _totally_ romantic…"

Misaki rolled her eyes and sweatdropped for the fifth time as Satsuki went into one of her romantic rants. That girl was just a plain sucker for any romance, and would find every chance she got to tease Misaki about the guys in her life.

"Rubbish, Satsuki. I was just talking to him, and naturally looked at him. I mean, you wouldn't look away from someone when you're talking to that person right?"

Satsuki merely pouted and stared at her friend before shaking her head in mock disappointment, sitting down on the bed and resumed combing her hair. That was the tactic she commonly used whenever she wanted Misaki to tell her something.

Urgh. She just couldn't stand the sight of her usual happy energetic friend nonchalantly combing her hair through, not wanting to know whether Misaki liked Akashi or not, not bothering…

And that trick worked like magic.

Whatever. Satsuki _was_ her best friend, after all. Even if she probably couldn't be trusted to keep a secret.

Oh well. It was just the Generation of Miracles.

"What I said is true, but… maybe I like somebody. _Not_ necessarily Akashi Seijuurou."

Blushing furiously, Misaki regretted her decision as Satsuki's eyed widened and she suddenly shot up, standing before her and began shooting questions at her like a machine gun. _Again._

 _Oh dear kami…_

"It's Akashi, isn't it? When did you start liking him?"

"Don't you still like Dai-chan?"

"Are you liking _two_ of them at the same –"

"Satsuki, _SHUT UP_!"

She covered her face with a pillow in complete embarrassment, as the grinning bubblegum-pink-haired girl pried it off her successfully, with a smirk as smug as the Cheshire cat's.

Oh well, since this was one of the rare times that Misaki actually got to talk to a girl instead of the boys she usually had to handle in the club… She would put up with her girl talk. For once.

"When we were at the balcony… Akashi… urm, confessed to me after asking me about love… and we um…"

Her eyes widened even more to the size of saucers, and Misaki fought the urge to crawl under the blankets once again.

"WHAT DID HE SAY?! OMG!"

"THAT STIFF REDHEAD ACTUALLY CONFESSED?! THE WORLD IS CHANGING. PIGS ARE FLYING."

"Dear kami, no. Pigs are not flying."

"DID YOU GUYS KISS?"

"Yes. Urgh, Satsuki, you remind me of an old, nosy and annoying –"

Before she could complete her sentence, Satsuki already wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and was hugging herself in excitement, eyes sparkling.

"Are you that thirsty for roma –"

"SO ROMANTIC! Tell me more details, and yes, I need more girl talk! Being around Dai-chan is fun, but very annoying and I hang around boys too much in school…"

"So I'm a bit iffy about Daiki cos I haven't seen him in so long and we're a bit awkward, but for Akashi I know that… um…"

Misaki was too embarrassed at herself for saying this, and buried her face in a pillow once again. How did she get convinced to talk about these cheesy things again? Satsuki was the _worst._

"Aw, so Mi-chan, you like the both of them?"

She barely got a response from the huddled-up indigo-haired teen hiding behind a pillow, with a small little nod.

"But if you like Akashi-kun more, go and date him, it's so romantic, even if Dai-chan doesn't get the girl he likes~"

She shot up immediately out of her head in horrification.

"Daiki doesn't like me in that way at _all,_ Satsuki. Don't spout rubbish…"

Satsuki rolled her eyes at her best friend and plopped down on the bed once again. Seriously, what was up with those two _baka?_ They obviously liked each other, but they themselves were blind to the other's feelings.

Honestly, if they had known about it, Mi-chan and Dai-chan would probably have gotten together as a _totally sweet_ couple two years ago. But well, usually the two people who liked each other were blind to the other's emotions. Very annoyingly so.

"Of course he does, Mi-chan…"

If Satsuki had gotten a dollar for every single time Dai-chan blushed unnaturally when talking to or about Misaki, she would have been living in a luxury mansion by now. Even _if_ couples were blind to each other's emotions, it was a bit too dense of Mi-chan to not notice.

"Mou… But since you're kind of getting into a relationship with Akashi-kun already, it's much too late… Do you want me to tell Dai-chan?"

Misaki just squirmed even more and sighed.

"No, Satsuki. Just… UGH."

Satsuki got what she was trying to say, and slumped down.

 _Dai-chan was going to be disappointed…_

She turned off the lights abruptly and mumbled a good-night, before Misaki also returned to her own bed and began sleeping.

Looking at the sleeping form of Imayoshi Misaki, Satsuki couldn't help but sigh again to herself.

 _Mi-chan, you're lucky to have been liked by two boys at the same time, but at the same time it's a curse._

And honestly, given Akashi's past records, Satsuki was a tad bit uncertain about how well he would treat her.

Sure, he was making her happy for now, but what if they fought? Would Akashi try to aggressively take control or something?

 _And his personalities…_

Satsuki was pretty sure Misaki knew about them already, but in a relationship, those personalities could sure screw their interaction up.

 **X**

The next morning, the two girls rose up slightly earlier than everyone else, just to help to prepare breakfast. Since Misaki had protested the other day that "not only girls should do the food preparation", when they got to the kitchen, Midorima Shintarou was already there up and early, using chopsticks to flip over mackerel in a stove.

"Midorima-kun, arigato for helping us cook~"

Misaki rushed up to the green-haired teenager before Satsuki could do so, guarding the sauces and meat left protectively from her best friend. Sure, Satsuki loved to cook to "express her love", but honestly, Misaki wouldn't want to wish her cooking on _anyone._

Thank goodness, the Kiseki no Sedai had been with Satsuki long enough to know that whatever she cooked was just _not_ safe to eat.

"Oi, Momoi, don't touch that spare piece of –"

"But I want to help you cook! Especially because Tetsu-kun and… um, Mi-chan are here, I want to show them that my cooking has improved a lot and it's much, much better than last time…"

 _More like because of Tetsu, and I'm an added excuse…_

Midorima and Misaki momentarily made eye contact for a second, and the green-haired shooter sighed before letting Misaki take over his cooking, before pushing his glasses up, telling her that she could decide.

"Fine, Satsuki. I'll give you a chance, for once, but if you cook weirdly again… There'll be no more chances. Remember last time when you almost poisoned Tetsu…"

The last time the Teikou friends let Satsuki attempt to cook, she had specially prepared a peach pudding – which they thought was perfectly safe for others to eat – with some _uncooked egg,_ _salted caramel_ , _mackerel_ and _99% dark chocolate_ as the ingredients, which were all prepared by herself.

Tetsu had kind of choked mainly because of the large amounts of pudding Satsuki had dolloped into his mouth, and also because the ingredients were too rich in flavour and were made of strange things as well.

Misaki couldn't blame Tetsu for refusing to eat anything of Satsuki's after _that_ happened… The way he avoided consuming anything of hers was to accept it with gratitude, and then quietly "recycle" it somewhere afterwards.

Hopefully her cooking was just _slightly_ better now…

Leaving Satsuki to her own devices in order to make her "prove herself", Midorima and Misaki began taking out the rice and cooking it, with them assigning unsaid rules to each other.

As they finally finished preparing everything, Midorima decided to go and supervise Satsuki before she did anything stupid, and Misaki went to go and wake up the guys in their rooms before they could oversleep, in time for breakfast.

The first room she knocked on was the one shared by Murasakibara and Tetsu, and when she opened the door after no reply, she was greeted by a lit room, with Kuroko being held in the purple giant's arms.

"Ano, Tetsu, what happened to you…"

Tetsu's eyes were wide open, and they were staring at Misaki with a slight plea for help in his eyes, with Murasakibara snoozing away, a packet of chips conveniently placed right beside him in the bed.

"Misaki-san, please… help me. Murasakibara-san is kind of suffocating me right now…"

Misaki sighed and gently tried to pry the teal-haired boy out from Murasakibara's arms with much effort, waking him up in the process. After all, Murasakibara's arms were just too strong, and the only way she could save Tetsu was to awaken him to release his grip.

"Mou…"

The Yousen centre yawned tiredly as he got awakened from his beauty sleep, and opened his purple eyes lazily as he held on even tighter to the Seirin player.

"Please release Tetsu, Murasakibara-kun. He's kind of suffocating…"

The giant protested with a little murmur as he rolled over instead, and wrapped his huge arms around Tetsu even more strongly and protectively, mumbling something about "sweet and soft" or something. It sounded _really_ perverted to her…

"Please release me, Murasakibara-san. I feel a bit tight and I have no space, and furthermore you have been hugging me throughout the night even though I have my own bed."

Tetsu stated it with his usual expressionless face, and Murasakibara considered it for a moment before releasing him unwillingly, before apologising to his friend.

" _Gomen_ , Kuro-chin, I didn't know that I had been doing that. I thought I just asked you to sleep together in the same bed as me…"

Misaki smiled at them in amusement and then went out of the room after ensuring that Murasakibara wouldn't fall back asleep again and "kidnap" Tetsu. As Satsuki and Daiki often said, he _was_ like an overgrown child with a screw loose when he wasn't on the court.

The next room: Midorima and Kise's. The two of them didn't get along very well, but since almost no one wanted to put up with the blonde's antics, the boys had decided to draw straws and Midorima was the lucky one to end up with the Kaijou player, who refused to go back to his own room to sleep.

The moment Misaki opened the door, the blonde model immediately pounced onto the Rakuzan manager, causing her to let out a little squeak of surprise as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Kise…"

"Ne, Misacchi, call me Ryouta instead. We've known each other for three years now, and you still call me by my last name while I call you Misacchi…"

"Fine. Ryouta, you're wide awake right? Not getting back to sleep?"

" _Hai_ , I'm always up and early~ Plus Midorimacchi always wakes up extra early every morning, so when he got up today he also woke me up at the same time unknowingly because he's super loud when he gets ready… Ne, Misacchi, don't go yet…"

Misaki smiled at the mention of the greenhead's weird antics, and shut the door softly, as the blonde continued to whine about Misacchi not staying longer.

Walking down the corridor, she halted in front of the last door she had to open, and entered the room softly after a gentle knock. As expected, Akashi was already awake, but Aomine was still sleeping away, with the redhead tapping him on the shoulder repeatedly, failing to wake him up.

"Akashi? Just give up, I can wake Daiki up. I'm kind of used to doing it by now, and I suppose I'm the second best here at waking him up after Satsuki…"

Akashi frowned slightly.

"No. It's fine, Misaki. I don't want to bother you with the tiresome task of waking Daiki up. Besides, I can do it as well."

Sighing resignedly, Misaki nodded and smiled at him before making a move, before her wrist got caught by his. She turned around, curious.

"By the way, Misaki. I noticed that you called me Akashi. Please call me Seijuurou or Sei in the future. After all, we're much closer now."

She blushed just a little, and nodded her head as she noticed the slight mischievous glint in his red eyes, sighing a little.

"Well then, _Seijuurou_ , you're slightly more humorous and comedic today than you are usually, but oh well, I guess that's a valid reason."

Rolling her eyes humorously at the slight twinkle in his eyes that remained, she shut the door softly and returned to the kitchen, attempting to ignore her red face.

Unknown to the pair, a certain Touou Gakuen Power Forward was wide awake, with only his eyes shut.

 _Seijuurou…?_

 **X**

More serious things coming up in the next chapter!


	22. Daiki?

[A/N]: Thank you **Karasu1809, Cinderheart49, Saint Black Genesis, Diana844, Liaskane** and **pinksakura17** who have added this to your story subscription list! Everyone, please do continue to comment on my story plot…

I'm really sorry for not updating for a longer time than usual because I've been quite busy lately, as I mentioned before!

As mentioned before, this will be lots more serious, so look out for the content. Since the Kiseki no Sedai meeting up thing has been going on for quite some time and a certain someone hasn't turned up in a looong time prominently, she/he will be appearing here. Enjoy!

 **X**

 **SATSUKI**

They all sat at the dining table, staring slightly suspiciously, hesitating as Momoi cheerfully placed some dishes on the table. Misaki looked particularly dubious, looking at the dishes for a particularly long time, with Daiki glancing _extremely_ sceptically at Momoi.

Momoi huffed and sighed at her friends' reactions. She did know that her cooking had a bad reputation – although she didn't even know why her friends found it odd – but they didn't have to look at her food like this, right…?

She supposed that it _was_ her own fault for always trying to show her appreciation towards her friends, the Kiseki no Sedai in particular, by adding extra-special ingredients in order to make the dishes more exciting and tasty.

Still, it was the effort and feelings that counted, right?

"Satsuki, do you want to… urm, introduce your dishes or something, cos they look really… different from the usual dishes that we cook? They look… interesting…"

Misaki was probably just trying to be nice to her and reduce the awkwardness between everyone at the table, and her action of nudging Dai-chan to shut up didn't go unnoticed by her.

 _Sometimes pity is bad, and not necessarily an act of kindness._

"Oh-okay… This is rice with little white chocolate bits crushed in them, because Tetsu loves vanilla, and vanilla tastes similar to white chocolate, right? Plus Mi-chan said she likes dark chocolate so I added a little sauce… Also I've taken some lemons and oranges! I squeezed the juice out of it into the rice, so that…"

Momoi talked on and on enthusiastically about her special dishes, but she didn't fail to notice Tetsu's face slowly crinkling up into an expression she couldn't really understand, and Misaki squirming uncomfortably in her seat, with Midorima looking like he was going to rush out of the room that very minute.

"I… yeah, those dishes look and sound really really nice, um, right, Kurokocchi~ Also, why don't we start eating now before the food gets cold? Now Momocchi, since you worked so hard on this food, you can go and rest in your room or something…"

Momoi bit her lip as seven pairs of hopeful eyes stared back at her, willing her to leave the room. Sighing in agreement, she finally walked out, and slumped onto her bed in despair.

She knew they asked her to leave the room because they all wanted to take only a few bites of the food that she had prepared, before throwing it away or putting it somewhere else she wouldn't find it. Urgh.

But Momoi couldn't blame them, because her cooking _was_ quite horrible, however, she was just trying to show a bit of concern for the team. Even last time when she was the team's manager, they had quietly accepted her food before getting rid of it in the end. Hopefully now her cooking was slightly better-tasting than they thought, and they wouldn't just dump it all away.

 **MISAKI**

Seven people awkwardly sat on their chairs surrounding the dining table in Kise's house, and she – like everyone else – simply stared at the food that Momoi prepared in order to avoid any conversation.

The silence had gone on for a minute now, and it _was_ getting too overwhelming for her to stand, so she decided to break the silence and and be the first one to start eating Momoi's food, even if it wasn't that nice to eat…

"Do you want to start eating the food that Satsuki prepared?"

Misaki looked sharply at Daiki, and he grimaced at her slightly as he mouthed something about Satsuki's "disgusting cooking", with her scowling at his evident rudeness.

"Okay, I suppose, lets start eating. Daiki, don't make that childish disgusted face. We should try to appreciate Satsuki's cooking more since she spent a long time preparing it."

 _Seijuurou was always the one to be polite and kickstart the action…_

Misaki nodded, and the food from the dishes were being taken by the basketball players in tiny portions, with each person nibbling down the food slightly doubtfully and also with mixed expressions. Seijuurou actually had to nudge Murasakibara in order to make him eat the food, after much low grumbling… After all, he was the only one there who could actually make the purple-haired, childlike giant obey instructions.

Misaki took a bite of the lemon orange chocolate rice and was pleasantly surprised by the taste. Honestly, chocolate and lemon did _not_ go well together at _all,_ but at least it tasted nicer than the last time Satsuki tried to cook for the team.

Poor Satsuki. From the look on her face just now, it was pretty obvious the pink-haired teen recognised the fact that nobody honestly liked her cooking, but was rather appreciating the fact that she had put effort into it…

Nibbling on the rice slowly and continuing to take more of it, Misaki swallowed the rice down and tried to eat as much as she could.

Honestly, Satsuki deserved better than this. If her cooking was slightly better, the entire team would be singing her praises by now.

It was just that her efforts failed.

After finishing the rice, Misaki moved her bowl to the sink to be washed, and polished off any remaining rice in the bowl before beginning to rinse it. Following her example and looking slightly red-faced, Ryouta did the same, before Midorima, Murasakibara…

She sensed a little glance on her back and as she turned around, she found Seijuurou looking at her in a nice sort of way, smiling just a little at her small little movement that caused everyone to act the same, and she rolled her eyes. She didn't do anything much.

But Misaki did admit to herself, even if she wouldn't ever do so to other people, that her heart fluttered just a little when Seijuurou gave her that sweet smile.

 **TIME SKIP**

They gathered around on the floor, just like old times, with Murasakibara sucking on a lollipop with a hungry expression on his face, and Kise smiling and talking animatedly to the blank-faced Tetsu.

Midorima looked like he wanted to crawl inside a hole in the ground and disappear as Satsuki suddenly burst into animated speech beside him, her screechy voice being too loud for his so-called "sensitive ears".

 _That unfeminine woman…_

"Lets play Truth or Dare~ We haven't played it together for so long, and it's super interesting! Dai-chan, I can start by asking _you_ a question, then you can spin the bottle and decide who goes next. This will be fun, fun, fun~"

Misaki grinned and chuckled as the ganguro beside her cursed softly at his bad luck and mumbled that he wanted to choose 'Truth', before picking up her water bottle and sipping some water thirstily. Well, anything to cheer Satsuki up after the awkward breakfast incident.

"Okay, Dai-chan… Out of me and Mi-chan, who would you rather kiss?"

Misaki nearly spat out the water that she was drinking and choked violently, and had to be patted on the back by an overly-concerned Kise Ryouta sitting beside her, before she assured him that she was just a little shocked by the question, that's all.

Peering at the tanned Touou ace, she could see that he was too stunned for words and his mouth was hanging open plain – making him look absolutely stupid. Honestly, she pitied him. To be asked such a weird question…

But something in her heart fluttered, and Misaki willed herself to stay calm, and _not be bothered at all by his response,_ no matter who it was…

Gosh, why did she feel like this?

"Obvious answer. Misaki."

She choked again.

Was it just her, or did a certain scarlet-haired boy in the room turn to shoot daggers at her with his eyes…?

"…because kissing you would be super gross, Satsuki, and you probably are a really bad kisser since your mouth is dirty and probably super smelly from nagging everyone – especially me – too much."

Daiki scoffed, his cheeks turning slightly pink from embarrassment at having to say that out, with Misaki also turning as red as a tomato, her heart hammering against her ribcage.

 _What did he just say?_

 _He would rather kiss me instead of the childhood friend he is so close to?_

She cleared her throat noisily, and quickly shook her head to distract herself.

 _NO NO NO…_

 _Nah, he only said that cos he wanted to make Satsuki annoyed._

 _Also, the thought of kissing her must be strange to him._

 _But –_

Misaki cringed at her own thoughts and wanted to crawl into a hole, even if she had done nothing embarrassing. Was she becoming one of those lovesick "girly" high school girls in her class who just simply thought about love and romantic relationships all day?

And besides, what happened with Akashi the other day was _supposed_ to have changed everything about that.

 _Shouldn't it have?_

Her brows crisscrossed.

 _Don't overthink anything._

 **AKASHI**

'Aw, how romantic! Dai-chan would rather kiss someone he just met in the first year of middle school and is far apart from right now than me his childhood friend, whom he is so familiar with and so close to all the time…"

Aomine's cheeks bloomed bright red as he turned to look at Misaki, covering his face with his palms in complete and utter embarrassment. She just shrugged and put on a nonchalant expression, in an attempt to hide her equally disturbed emotions.

But she couldn't hide that red face from a certain redhead.

 _Nothing ever escaped his gaze._

Akashi frowned at Misaki's slightly pinkish face. Why did she always get so emotional when it came to that Touou ace?

He thought she was already…

Disturbed by Satsuki's question, and response to Daiki's answer, his eyes narrowed. Did she support Daiki being together with Misaki? The way she always posed questions to Daiki made it seem that way.

Akashi pursed his lips, irritated.

Whatever was his ought to be his, and his alone.

No one would take Misaki away from him, especially the one who had hurt her and had caused her heart to be shattered a few years ago, and he would definitely ensure that.

 _Especially after last night._

Akashi would make sure that he was the only one who would ever turn Misaki's world upside down – in his own way, of course.

As Daiki spun the bottle, it came to a halt right in front of Akashi, and he smiled.

"Dare."

Everyone else in the room gaped at his choice, and Daiki frowned, trying to think of a suitably embarrassing one, as he obviously hadn't anticipated that choice of his.

Dares were always so stupid to watch, and it made him feel weird to perform something like that. However, this time he didn't actually want to request for a truth, and show Misaki that he was actually brave enough to try something like that, and to prove to Daiki that she was _his._

"Urm…"

After a lot of thought – and head scratching with a puzzled expression as well – Daiki finally came up with a dare.

"Akashi, go up to the front and do… a funky chicken dance."

Akashi sweatdropped, and sighed heavily. He wanted to make himself look better, but now with this completely shameful dare… Furthermore, Misaki looked like she was going to explode with laughter, with a mischievous glint in her eyes as she pulled out her phone to start recording.

"Oooh… WAIT, MISACCHI, ARE YOU ACTUALLY GOING TO…?

" _Duh,_ Kise. What else do you think this is for?"

"B-B-BUT… AREN'T YOU SCARED YOU'LL GET IN TROUBLE? HE'S AKASHICCHI, AFTER ALL! HE'S IN YOUR SCHOOL TOO!"

A dangerous smirk from the Rakuzan manager was merely tossed in said person's direction.

He tossed one back.

"Well, Imayoshi isn't exactly known for being the sharpest person around. I can't believe she'll resort to _this_ as a childish tactic for revenge of sorts. Tsk."

An arched eyebrow.

 _Such_ a reckless, black-hearted, daredevil blackmailer…

 _That's my girl._

"Ah, ah, ah… Akashi, you can bring someone else along with you up to the front as well, if you're uncomfortable with it…"

Daiki hastily changed his request to something less embarrassing, and as Misaki pouted in disappointment, Akashi smirked.

"Misaki. You are coming up with me to perform the dance."

After all, she _was_ his girlfriend now. She had to help him when he needed assistance, didn't she?

He loved the way her phone just dropped out of her hands like that.

 **MISAKI**

She was happily waiting in anticipation for Akashi to go up and perform his totally undignified chicken dance – and loosen up for the first time – and get a video recording to show to the Rakuzan team, and then Seijuurou _had_ to go and ruin the moment by asking her to perform it together with her.

"M-ME…?"

Shooting a death glare at Daiki for his bright idea, Seijuurou suddenly walked up towards her, and held out his arm towards her, a half-smile etched onto his face.

"Of course, Misaki."

Like an offering.

"Don't you think it'll be _fun_?"

Misaki scowled as fiercely as she could, before getting up and taking his hand – albeit a bit nervously, but _never_ would she ever let Akashi Seijuurou get the upper hand in emotional terms ever _again_.

She felt just a little light hand squeeze from him as her hand took his, the two of them walking towards the front slightly nervously and in an embarrassed manner, her cheeks turning pinkish yet again. Akashi Seijuurou was already her official boyfriend – well, not like anyone but Satsuki or them knew about it – but she was still so nervous around him.

What on earth was it about that boy that made her so utterly confused?

As Satsuki blasted the chicken dance music from her phone – with much laughter before she received two equally scary death glares from the pair that was about to perform – the two Rakuzan students awkwardly flapped their arms to the beat, and wiggled their legs, dancing to the bouncy tune.

"Bawk bawk bawk… Some sound effects would be good, y'all!"

"Shut the hell up, MOMOI SATSUKI! DON'T YOU THINK I CAN'T SEE THAT PHONE!"

Misaki cringed as she spotted Satsuki actually _videoing_ her and Seijuurou with chuckles, and hoped that that would _never ever_ go up on any of Satsuki's many social media accounts. The teen had a bad reputation for posting absolutely humiliating videos and photos of her friends, especially her and Daiki, for her followers to see.

"Neh, Mi-chan, you shouldn't get mad at me… I'm merely commemorating this _extra-special_ occasion after all!"

If Shouichi somehow or another managed to get hold of it, he would never ever let go of this, and replay it over and over again the next time she got to return home and laugh hysterically over it together with her.

 _Dear kami, if I've ever done anything good…_

"THE RAKUZAN CAPTAIN IS BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH!"

She exploded in a fit of giggles.

Meanwhile, her partner in embarrassment merely shot her a death glare that read: shut up or I'll slap you.

Misaki tried to silence herself, contorting her body with silent choking giggles.

"… Excuse me, who was that? Was it you, Ryouta?"

"HUHHHH NOT ME? WHAT? IS SOMETHING THE MATTER? DID ANYONE SAY ANYTHING?"

"*crunch* … It's Kise Ryouta all right."

"MIDORIMACCHI! EXPOSING ME LIKE THAT… GULP! AKASHICCHI, I – "

"I suppose someone will have a fun time tomorrow, right, Ryouta?"

"Hey, Akashi Seijuurou, don't torture him like this..."

"Misaki, are you challenging my position?"

"HAHA, ahem… Of course… not… How would I dare to do such a thing… HAHA!"

"OI! Shut up and just do the dance!"

"EHHHH, AOMINECCHI, I DON'T THINK THAT'S – "

"Humiliation isn't enough, Daiki? Want to order me around as well?"

"Um…"

 **X**

Aomine grunted sleepily, and as he tossed and turned over and over again in the bed, he sighed, before reaching over to the side to read the time on the bedside clock.

 _2.17am._

He let out a loud groan, before flopping back onto the bed with a large thump, somehow managing to not wake the peacefully sleeping Rakuzan captain on the other bed in the tiny little guest room.

Even though his body was damned tired and he was totally exhausted from the fricking tiring stuff Kise and Akashi came up with – for goodness' sake, it was a casual meet-up, not a damned training camp – Aomine couldn't fall into deep slumber like his roommate did.

And he had to wake up at 6am the next day, captain's orders.

Apparently, an early start was "vital to starting the day right."

 _Yeah, right._

What a load of crap.

Running a hand through his dishevelled hair and sighing once again, Aomine got up and started walking towards the door.

Might as well take a midnight – no, past-midnight – stroll through the home and chill in the open air with no one to disturb him. Seriously, he swore if he heard Momoi Satsuki's voice disturbing him one more time during the camp, he would be _so_ ready to smack her right in the face.

He didn't realise how introverted he was until he realised how much being in the camp made him miss the time he spent alone, heck.

Strolling through the corridor, whistling a familiar tune, Aomine walked through the silent house all the way to the balcony – yes, even in the darkness his navigation was simply _that_ good –, and as he strolled to the front, a very familiar figure caught his eye.

He stopped in his tracks.

She was simply standing there, leaning against the glass railing, turning slightly to the right, body swaying to a tune she was whistling, and his eyes widened as he realised that she was whistling that very same song that he was humming under his breath.

 _Saigo no kisu wa_

 __ _Tabako no flavor ga shita_

 __ _Nigakute setsunai kaori_

 _The last kiss_

 _Tasted like tobacco_

 _A bitter sad smell_

She looked so breathtakingly beautiful – long locks of hair blowing and swaying with the direction of the wind, eyes shining with a special glow like moonlight, and something blissful in that little sweet smile of hers.

But there was something else in that smile as well – bitter regret, bitter sorrow, bitter pain.

 _Ashita no imagoro ni wa_

 __ _Anata wa doko ni iru n' darou_

 __ _Dare wo omotte 'ru n' darou_

 _Tomorrow, at this time_

 _Where will you be_

 _What will you be thinking about_

Memory after memory ran through his brain, as his eyes turned slightly moist, remembering the old days.

God, how he missed her, missed the cute way she laughed with her mouth half-open, missed the dorky way she smiled with her slanted lips turning upwards, missed the clumsy way she tripped over nothing on the sidewalk, missed – hell, he missed _everything_ about her.

And as abruptly as that, the silhouette before him turned around to face him, the song on her lips dying down as her eyes lit up in recognition, body standing up slightly straighter, combing down and trying to tame her hair as the wind continued to ruthlessly muss up those silky locks.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Two sparkling eyes.

"Can't sleep?"

A sloppy smile with rough edges.

"As always. You know."

A rueful grin with soft sides.

"Seriously. We're going to perish tomorrow."

Mussed-up dark hair.

"Surviving on 2 hours of sleep, ya?"

A light chuckle.

"As always."

He got a sudden impulse to hug her right there and then, but controlled himself.

 _Seijuurou._

Wasn't his place to do anything anymore for her, was it?

 **X**

After a few nights of incessant talking – mainly caused by Satsuki –, almost sleepless nights, a mix of both odd-tasting and absolutely delicious food, Misaki headed home with the rest of her friends, as Ryouta waved goodbye to them while crying in sadness that they were actually leaving already.

Since Ryouta still lived in Tokyo despite his school being in Kanagawa, even Misaki and Akashi got to go back to their actual family homes and say hi to them once again. For her, it meant seeing Shouichi and catching up on stuff; for him, it meant grilling by his father and polishing up on his manners.

The holidays had barely started just, what, 4 days ago?, with the Rakuzan camp recently ending, and although Misaki was going to be at home relaxing most of the time, she still had to come up with another scheme to keep the Rakuzan players in shape before the Winter Cup.

The competition always seemed like something distant and far away, but with a jolt she realised that it was only about ninety days to go before Rakuzan competed in the preliminaries.

Basketball occupied a huge part of her life ever since she met the Generation of Miracles, and she was thankful for the chance to love a sport so deeply. Yes, second year was the official worst year in her life for real, but Daiki had made up with her.

Hopefully Shouichi…

Unlocking the door with her house key, she entered with a huge pile of heavy bags to find her brother on the couch, casually reading a thick book, as he noticed her presence and nodded to acknowledge it, before going back to the book

Misaki could hardly believe her eyes.

 _Him…? Reading…?_

She looked outside the window.

No pigs were flying, and the sun was certainly setting in the correct direction.

"Shouichi, what on _earth_ are you reading?"

"Oh, it's our year's literature book, and it's absolutely horrible. I don't even know why the school chose it, because fricking no one would like such a boring book. Want to see the back's synopsis?"

She shook her head, smiling quietly, and as she dumped her heavy stuff down in her room. There would be things about her brother that she was certain wouldn't change for ever, and one of those things was his passionate hatred for reading stories that had a hidden deep meaning or something, like those annoying books schools recommended.

That honest comment of his kind of broke the chilly atmosphere that was present whenever she managed to return to Tokyo during the weekend in the school term. Both of them weren't super close anymore, and just talked about schoolwork and club, not exactly behaving like siblings anymore.

 _More like distant cousins._

"Oi, Misaki, how was the mini gathering with them? Was Aomine behaving himself, that baka?"

That little smile of hers turned into a large grin as her brother shouted down the corridor, as she walked out to answer his question.

Shouichi seemed friendlier than usual.

 _He's in a good mood today._

Better to take advantage of it before it soured.

"By Aomine standards I guess he did since no perverted magazines were found in his bag during the meet-up, but he was still pretty grumpy and all. His usual self, basically."

Shouichi merely rolled his eyes at the first sentence, and smiled a little at his sister's dead-drop expression. Although in her words, Aomine always irritated her, Shouichi could tell that she possessed some feelings for him.

Although Aomine had treated her terribly in the past and Shouichi still hadn't forgiven him yet, according to Misaki they "had made up" and were now friends again or something. Though Misaki was much happier, Shouichi was ready to bash his kouhai on the head any moment if Aomine started to hurt her again.

"So what was it like meeting up with those… arseholes once again? They broke up in the past, right? Gosh, this is starting to sound like some idiotic lovers' quarrel… So are they all happy now?"

Misaki chuckled.

"Yeah."

"Tsk. Your friends may play basketball, but they're girls at heart."

Honestly, the friendship drama _was_ kinda uncharacteristic of such basket-ball obsessed simplistic-minded guys.

"Well… I still think girls resolve friendship drama better than they do!"

Shouichi smirked.

Sneaking a little glance at her, he noticed that now she seemed more relaxed and open around him compared to half a year ago, and that smile that lit up her whole face seemed to be truly genuine now.

 _The way she smiled whenever she was talking about them…_

In comparison her previous smiles seemed fake and artificial, attempts to establish the fact that she was happy.

Misaki looked truly free now. And Shouichi was glad about it.

 _Ring, ring ring…_

Misaki glanced at her brother's phone ringing incessantly, and he sighed as he picked the phone up and looked at the Caller ID, raising an eyebrow when he did so.

It was an unknown number, and apparently when he had switched it off on silent mode at practice a few hours earlier the caller had phoned four times. What was it so urgent that he or she had to do this?

"Gomen, Mi-chan, I need to take this call because he's been calling for five times now, though I have _no_ idea who it is…"

Rubbing her head affectionately, he exited the room and answered.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Sorry for the incessant calling I made earlier, as I was too impatient to inform you of a matter that I feel you ought to know about."

Upon hearing the voice on the other side of the phone, Shouichi's eyes widened even further and he smirked a little despite himself.

"Now, now, what is this about…"

As Shouichi talked on and on in the room, Misaki sighed and slumped down on the couch. She hadn't gotten the chance of talking to her brother for days and now he had to go and respond. She didn't blame him; she was just irritated with the caller.

For some reason Shouichi seemed to be laughing and smiling more when he interacted with people than usual. Ever since her parents' deaths, he was closed-up, less like an older brother and more like a stranger who had been assigned to take care of her.

Maybe it was because Misaki was living so far away from him and appreciated his presence more. Honestly, other people might think that she had an elder brother complex for relying on Shouichi so much in the past for emotional support, but she just cared for her brother.

Walking off to her own room, she opened a document and began examining her training programme for Rakuzan, making it even tougher than before on purpose.

After seeing her old Teikou friends' skills during basketball games at Kise's house, Misaki felt that her team was severely unprepared. Based on what she had observed from their bodies and plays, they were _way_ more advanced than she had thought. Improved drastically since the Interhigh.

Typing in schedules that would absolutely horrify the players, Misaki sighed and closed her eyes in an effort to recall what she had googled and learnt about building muscle strength.

Triceps… Biceps… Back muscles…

The more she thought about it, the more confused she got, and her vision went fuzzy, before blacking out.

 _So… tired…_

Maybe she had worn herself too much during the camp since she had been sleeping super late, and now she ought to rest…

 **X**

Since I have been focusing a _lot_ on emotional stuff, basketball's issues will be turning up once more next chapter. Also! The person who made the mysterious phone call will be addressed next chapter… Stay tuned! Thank you once more for reading!


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